Pew Applauds Senate Bill to Secure Opioid Use Disorder Treatment via Telehealth

WASHINGTON—The Pew Charitable Trusts today commended Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for introducing the Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act, which would permanently allow patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) to access buprenorphine treatment remotely without a prior in-person evaluation.

Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medication proved to reduce overdose deaths and support recovery for patients with OUD, but access to this lifesaving medication is woefully inadequate: in fact, only 1 in 10 people in need of substance use treatment receive any services.

Brandee Izquierdo, Pew’s director of behavioral health programs, issued the following statement:

“The TREATS Act will help more people access lifesaving addiction care, unquestionably the most effective way to curb opioid overdose deaths.

“Research shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth access to buprenorphine transformed treatment. More patients have started and stayed in treatment over the past three years than in years previous—without increasing overdose deaths. These patients didn’t have to endure long waits for appointments; they didn’t have to take off work, find transportation, or pay for childcare. And they didn’t have to face the judgment or stigma that too often comes with in-person office visits.

“But unless Congress acts, telehealth access will disappear, and patients will be forced to once again face obstacles that could mean the difference between life or death.

“Passing the TREATS Act would eliminate the in-person care requirement and would allow health care providers to permanently use telehealth to evaluate patients, prescribe buprenorphine, and save lives.

“We can’t afford to go back. Pew applauds Sens. Whitehouse, Murkowski, Warner, and Blackburn for their leadership on this issue and urges Congress to swiftly pass this legislation.”