news

WASHINGTON, DC — Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation that would improve access to medication-assisted treatment for individuals struggling with addiction. H.R. 3736, the Extending Access to Addiction Treatment Act, extends the requirement that Medicaid covers addiction medication for Americans who need it.

Medication-assisted treatment for addiction significantly reduces the risk of overdose death. However, despite the effectiveness, approximately 87 percent of individuals with opioid use disorder who may benefit from lifesaving medication assisted treatment do not receive it.

This announcement comes ahead of Rep. Tonko attending a field hearing TOMORROW, June 9th with the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health examining five years of the SUPPORT Act (Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment Act) and the ongoing effort in Congress to tackle the overdose crisis.

“Addressing the disease of addiction must include a compassionate response bolstered by the pillars of prevention, treatment, and recovery,” Congressman Tonko said. “For years, I’ve pushed hard to ensure that individuals living with addiction have access to the treatments they need. A lynchpin of my efforts has long been my Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act that eliminated an outdated, bureaucratic barrier which prevented practitioners from prescribing the proven treatment, buprenorphine, to their patients. I’m deeply proud that this bill was at last made law, but our work is far from over to ensure treatments are available to those struggling. I look forward to continuing to work across the aisle to drive this legislation forward and ensure a compassionate, holistic response to this crisis. The SUPPORT Act reauthorization provides opportunity to save lives through sound policy.”

“Addiction affects millions of families across the country. This bill will make sure those who need help can continue to get the treatment and care they need. It’s critical to ending the stigma around addiction and making a real difference in millions of Americans’ lives,” Congressman Armstrong said.

As co-chair of the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, Tonko has long spearheaded federal efforts to address the overdose epidemic and expand addiction treatment, including playing a leading role in developing successful SUPPORT Act policies. In 2018 the SUPPORT Act was signed into law and compromised a package of policy focused on the opioid crisis. It included the requirement that Medicaid provide coverage for addiction medication treatment as well as Tonko’s Medicaid Reentry Act that authorized CMS to conduct state demonstration projects allowing for health transitions including addiction and mental health care for justice involved individuals reentering communities.

Tonko is now leading legislation called the Reentry Act that would codify and expand this effort by allowing all states to provide pre-release care to Medicaid eligible individuals up to 30 days prior to release without a CMS waiver. He will be pushing for all of these efforts to be included in the SUPPORT Act Reauthorization.