Let’s end the overdose crisis.
The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (MAT Act) is a historic, bipartisan reform that will prevent overdoses, increase access to treatment, and reduce stigma.
We can save tens of thousands of Americans every year from overdose deaths.
The gold standard of care for opioid use disorder is medication that prevents painful withdrawal symptoms and helps secure long-term recovery.
The most common of these medications is buprenorphine, a treatment that’s safer than insulin and available in generic.
Buprenorphine and medications like it cut the risk of overdose death in half.
But federal law prevents most people from accessing this treatment.
Medical providers with a standard controlled medication license can freely prescribe buprenorphine for pain but federal law prohibits them from prescribing buprenorphine for opioid use disorder without being subject to unnecessary bureaucratic requirements.
These requirements include adhering to strict limits on the number of patients they can treat, undergoing 8-24 hours of extra training, and navigating a 2-3 month registration process with the federal government.
According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: “These policies are not supported by evidence, nor are such strict regulations imposed on access to life-saving medications for other chronic diseases.”
These federal barriers are fueling the overdose crisis.
Most Americans can’t access this treatment.
More than 100,000 Americans lose their lives to an overdose each year. The vast majority of those deaths involved opioids. But due to federal law, only about 1 in 10 Americans with opioid use disorder receive recovery medications - the gold standard of care.
New mothers are dying.
Opioid overdose is a leading cause of maternal mortality. Infants are now over 5 times more likely to be born in withdrawal from opioids. But nearly half of pregnant women with opioid use disorder do not receive this treatment.
Veterans are suffering.
Buprenorphine can reduce the risk of veteran suicide by 65%. Veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than the general population. But only 1 in 3 veterans receive medications to treat opioid use disorder.
Rural communities are losing loved ones.
More than half of counties with the highest rates of opioid use disorder and overdose deaths are rural. But 20 million Americans live in a county without a physician who can prescribe buprenorphine.
Persons of color are unjustly impacted.
Rates of overdose deaths are growing fastest among Black and Indigenous persons. Hispanic youth and seniors are also facing significant loss. But white Americans have almost exclusive access to buprenorphine.
We must act now.
2.7 million Americans have opioid use disorder. Last year was the deadliest on record for overdoses. Without action, a million Americans will die from an overdose over the next decade.
The MAT Act will help build universal access to high-quality treatment.
The MAT Act will allow medical providers to prescribe a medication that prevents painful withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid use disorder just as they prescribe medications for other chronic conditions.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the MAT Act by an overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans. The Biden and Trump Administrations have both acted to expand access to buprenorphine.
The U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking has called for Congress to remove these barriers to care.
More than 540 organizations have called for these federal restrictions to be removed, including The Pew Charitable Trusts, American Medical Association, National Association of Attorneys General, National Council for Behavioral Health, Mental Health America, NAACP, National Sheriffs’ Association, American Legion, and many more.
The MAT Act will help end the overdose crisis by:
Preventing overdoses.
The MAT Act can help save tens of thousands of lives every year by increasing participation in one of the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder.
Eliminating stigma.
The MAT Act will reduce stigma by integrating substance use disorder treatment into primary care.
Improving prescription adherence.
The MAT Act will ensure that people who need buprenorphine can access it through the healthcare system, not on the street.
Ensuring equitable care.
The MAT Act will remove barriers to substance use disorder care for women, persons of color, veterans, and rural communities.
Treating fentanyl use.
The MAT Act will equip states and local governments with a key treatment to stem the fentanyl overdose crisis.
Protecting children.
The MAT Act will keep children safe with their families by ensuring opioid use disorder is treated.
Expanding education.
The MAT Act will launch a national education campaign to connect providers to publicly available training resources on treating substance use disorder.
Reducing costs.
The MAT Act will make widely available the most cost-effective form of treatment for opioid use disorder.
Equipping front-line providers.
The MAT Act will ensure all licensed medical providers have the ability to prevent overdoses and help patients secure long-term recovery.
Featured news
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Opioid addiction is a disease. We cut red tape so doctors can finally treat it effectively.
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- Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)
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The Biden administration says new federal guidelines released Tuesday will allow far more medical practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug proven to reduce opioid relapses and overdose deaths.
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Biden administration eases restrictions on prescribing treatment for opioid addiction
The Biden administration released guidelines Tuesday to make it easier for doctors and other health-care practitioners to prescribe the drug buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction, softening restrictions widely criticized as hampering the response to the opioid epidemic.
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To save lives from addiction, Congress should pass the MAT Act
When I served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Trump administration, we made it our mission to expand access to buprenorphine, which blocks withdrawal symptoms and makes it easier for people with addiction to discontinue opioid use.
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To help firefighters prevent overdose deaths, make treatment more available
The Senate has a chance to help people struggling with drug dependence get the treatment they need and help firefighters and other first responders do a better job preventing overdoses — they must pass the MAT Act to make sure people can get treatment before it is too late.
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Inaction won’t cut it. We need to solve the overdose crisis now.
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Drug would help break stranglehold fentanyl has on Ohio's children
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Making a difference in the opioid crisis
There are also legislative solutions to quickly provide treatment to those who need it. The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act is a bipartisan bill that would remove the outdated regulation restricting access to buprenorphine, one of the most widely-used medications to treat opioid addiction.
By Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC)
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A safe drug treats opioid addiction. But most doctors can’t prescribe it.
Every one of these overdose deaths, most of them involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, was preventable.
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Easier access to a better treatment — buprenorphine — is helping people with opioid use disorder turn their lives around
Barajas credits his recovery to a medication called buprenorphine, or bupe, and a new type of clinic that’s part of a statewide push to make the treatment more accessible.
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COVID-19 has taken opioid use disorder from bad to worse.
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