Attorney General Chris Carr announced that the state of Georgia joined a coalition of 37 states and territories asking health insurance companies to examine financial incentives that contribute to the opioid epidemic in Georgia.

“Georgians are witnessing firsthand the devastation that the opioid epidemic has wrought on our state and nation in terms of lives lost and the costs it has imposed on our healthcare system and the broader economy,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “The Office of the Attorney General remains committed to using all tools at its disposal to combat this epidemic and to protect patients suffering from chronic pain as well as addiction. We look forward to this dialogue with the insurance industry, so that, working together, we can best determine solutions to combat this modern-day plague.”

The bipartisan coalition announced Monday a two-step strategy intended to identify problematic policies and encourage reforms to spur increased use of non-opioid alternatives for treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain.

Describing the opioid epidemic as “the preeminent public health crisis of our time,” the 37 attorneys general will send a letter to industry trade groups and major insurance providers nationwide. The letter urges insurers to review their coverage and payment policies as the starting point in a coalition-initiated dialogue focused on incentive structures across the insurance industry.

The attorneys general, in acknowledging the important role insurance companies play in reducing opioid prescriptions, hope to assess the positive and negative impacts incentive structures have on the opioid epidemic.

Attorneys General from West Virginia, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, and Virginia co-sponsored this effort. The following attorneys general also signed the letter: Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.