Pew, Public Health Organizations Ask Congress to Support Addiction Legislation

The Pew Charitable Trusts on June 1 joined 11 organizations in submitting a letter to U.S. congressional leaders, asking them to support the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (H.R. 2482 and S. 2074). Co-signers represent the fields of physical and behavioral health, substance use treatment, pharmacy, and housing and homelessness, as well as state attorneys general.

Studies show that emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to a rise in substance use cases amid increased anxiety and uncertainty. The letter encourages Congress to pass this bipartisan, bicameral legislation, which would remove the federal requirement that health care practitioners obtain a Drug Enforcement Administration waiver before prescribing buprenorphine, one of three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications to treat opioid use disorder and the only one that can be prescribed without an in-person visit to a doctor or treatment facility.