Sen. Angus King wants to charge a fee (tax) on prescription opioids to help pay for programs that would “alleviate” the country’s opioid epidemic.

The fees (taxes) — an estimated $1.5 to $2 billion a year — would go toward substance abuse treatment, employment services and other programs. There would be exceptions to the fee/tax, such as opioids for cancer pain, but I wonder who will decide and what criteria will be used to determine which other types of pain medications will be exempt. Bureaucrats?

If his bill is passed, insurance companies will pay increases for patient’s fortunate enough to have health insurance while those who do not will pay out-of-pocket and co-pays will increase.

Would that also mean increased costs to the underfunded and mismanaged Veterans Administration?

Additionally, will a new government bureaucracy be established to monitor/report how the fees/taxes are used or will $2 billion simply disappear in bloated budgets of the numerous existing drug agencies, i.e., Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Office of National Drug Control, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, et al?

In 2015, the president announced “public sector efforts to address prescription drug abuse and heroin use,” directing steps to combat prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic with more than 540,000 health care providers completing opioid prescriber training by 2017. Why is Sen. King’s bill needed?

Fortunately, I do not need or use opioids. My issue is Congress not holding existing government agencies responsible or accountable and legislating yet another redundant government drug bureaucracy.

James Thompson, Lisbon