End Substance Use Disorder Leads Nearly 200 Organizations to Call on Congress to Pass the MAT Act
On Tuesday, November 29, End Substance Use Disorder led nearly 200 organizations to issue a letter urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act by the end of the year. If passed, the MAT Act would prevent overdoses, increase access to treatment, and reduce stigma by removing federal rules that prevent healthcare providers from prescribing a lifesaving medication for opioid use disorder.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the MAT Act in June as part of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022. The package passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support (402-20).
Since 1997, the United States has lost more than one million people to drug overdoses. More than 108,000 of those deaths occurred in 2021 alone. If nothing changes, we are projected to lose one million more people to drug overdose by 2030. Each person lost to the U.S. overdose crisis leaves behind children without a parent, lost siblings, friends, and communities.
Overdose deaths are preventable through evidence-based treatment, including medications for opioid use disorder that prevent withdrawal symptoms and stem cravings. By passing the MAT Act, Congress can prevent future deaths and help people with substance use disorder secure recovery.
You can find a link to the letter here. The full text of the letter can also be read below:
November 29, 2022
RE: The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (“MAT Act”, S. 445 / H.R. 1384)
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, and Leader McCarthy:
The nearly 200 undersigned organizations urge you to pass the bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (“MAT Act”, S. 445, H.R. 1384) by the end of the session. In the midst of a deadly and accelerating overdose crisis, the MAT Act is a common-sense solution that will prevent overdoses, increase access to treatment, and reduce stigma.
The MAT Act has strong bipartisan support. The House passed the MAT Act by an overwhelming bipartisan majority as part of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022 (H.R. 7666). With more than 260 Democratic, Republican, and Independent co-sponsors – including the Chairs of the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference and Senators from all parties, the MAT Act is among the most broadly supported pieces of overdose prevention legislation introduced in Congress this session. Both President Biden’s and President Trump’s former Directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy have called for Congress to pass the MAT Act.[i] They join the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking in urging Congress to pass the policy.[ii]
Together, our organizations represent and serve millions on the front lines of the overdose crisis. Our organizations include people and families personally affected by the overdose crisis, law enforcement professionals and first responders, health care and behavioral health providers, Veterans, faith-based leaders, recovery and harm reduction specialists, social justice advocates, payers, and public health experts. We have come together to ask you to act on the overdose crisis now. By passing the MAT Act, you have the opportunity to increase access to a treatment that can open the doors of healing and recovery to millions.
The MAT Act removes outdated barriers that prevent health care providers from prescribing a safe and effective treatment for opioid use disorder, known as buprenorphine. Buprenorphine and medications like it cut the risk of overdose death in half and reduce fentanyl use by preventing painful withdrawal symptoms and stemming opioid cravings. The medication has been FDA-approved for opioid use disorder for twenty years and is available in generic. Buprenorphine is considered a gold standard of care for opioid use disorder because it saves lives and helps individuals secure long-term recovery.[iii]
But due to outdated federal rules that prevent health care providers from prescribing buprenorphine (known as the “X-waiver”), only about 1 in 10 people with opioid use disorder receive medications for the condition.[iv] Fully 40% of U.S. counties lack a single health care provider who can prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.[v] This lack of access to buprenorphine is devastating our families and causing tens of thousands of preventable overdose deaths each year.[vi]
The MAT Act will help integrate substance use treatment into primary care practices, emergency departments, behavioral health care practices, and other health care settings. The bill will allow all health care providers with a standard controlled medication license to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, subject to state licensure requirements. The bill will also expand access to training by launching a national education campaign on best practices for treating substance use disorder. The MAT Act will equip states and local governments with a key tool to address the unique treatment needs of their communities.
We have witnessed the profound suffering that overdoses have wrought on our families and communities. More than 108,000 loved ones now lose their lives to an overdose in a year, with 2021 marking the deadliest year yet. Two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.[vii] If we fail to act, a million more families will bury parents and children due to overdoses over the next decade.[viii]
We look forward to working together to help ensure that treatment that can prevent overdoses and support long-term recovery from opioid use disorder is accessible to everyone in need. We urge you to pass the MAT Act by the end of the session to save lives and to extend the hope of healing to communities across the country. With overdose deaths rising at alarming rates, the time to destigmatize and expand access to safe and effective treatment is now.
Thank you for your consideration. Please reach out to Erin Schanning at End Substance Use Disorder (erin@endsud.org) for more information.
Sincerely,
AIDS United, American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM), American Academy of PAs, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R), American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP), American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Medical Toxicology, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Jail Association, American Medical Association, American Muslim Health Professionals, American Pharmacists Association (APhA), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare (AABH), Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, Association of American Medical Colleges, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Big Cities Health Coalition, Blue Future, Build Back Better USA, CarmaHealth, Coalition on Human Needs, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Community Catalyst, Dooner Social Ventures, Drug Policy Alliance, End Substance Use Disorder, Fair and Just Prosecution, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice, Health in Justice Action Lab, Healthcare Leadership Council, Inseparable, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Society for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses, InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Magellan Health, Mental Health America, National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), National Association for Rural Mental Health, National Association of Attorneys General, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, National Association of Counties (NACo), National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), National Health Care for the Homeless Council, National Health Law Program, National League for Nursing, National Prevention Science Coalition, National Rural Health Association, National Safety Council, National Sheriffs' Association, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR), NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, New Directions Behavioral Health, Next Harm Reduction aka NEXT Distro, North-Star Care, OCHIN, Organizational Wellness Learning Systems, Overdose Crisis Response Fund, Overdose Prevention Initiative at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, PAIN, Partnership to End Addiction, PAs in Virtual Medicine and Telemedicine, People's Action, Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative (PTACC), PursueCare, QueerDoc, QuickMD, SAFE Project, Society of Behavioral Medicine, Society of Hospital Medicine, Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists, The Hepatitis C Mentor and Support Group (HCMSG), The Kennedy Forum, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Sentencing Project, The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society, Treatment Action Group, Treatment Advocacy Center, Veterans for Common Sense, Vital Strategies, Wounded Warrior Project, Young People in Recovery, AIDS Alabama (Alabama), Hometown Action (Alabama), Southwest Recovery Alliance (Arizona), CA Bridge (California), Chop Wood, Carry Water Progressive Action Newsletter (California), Father Joe's Villages (California), Monterey County Prescribe Safe Initiative (California), Northridge Indivisible (California), Ascending To Health Respite Care (Colorado), Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (Colorado), Peak Vista Community Health Centers (Colorado), Florida Harm Reduction Collective (Florida), Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center (Hawai'i), Hep Free Hawai'i (Hawai'i), United Vision for Idaho (Idaho), AIDS Foundation Chicago (Illinois), Center for Housing & Health (Illinois), Communities United (Illinois), Illinois Harm Reduction & Recovery Coalition (Illinois), Live4Lali (Illinois), The Night Ministry (Illinois), Hoosier Action (Indiana), Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa), Iowa Primary Care Association (Iowa), VOCAL-KY (Kentucky), Ochsner Health (Louisiana), Maine People's Alliance (Maine), Health Care for the Homeless-Baltimore (Maryland), Progressive Maryland (Maryland), Duffy Health Center (Massachusetts), Michigan State Medical Society (Michigan), Wellness Services Inc. (Michigan), Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minnesota), Rights and Democracy (New Hampshire and Vermont), End Overdose Together (New Jersey), New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. (New Jersey), New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition (New Jersey), New Jersey Organizing Project (New Jersey), Newark Homeless Outreach (New Jersey), Northern MAT Center of Excellence (New Jersey), Sea Change RCO (New Jersey), Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, Inc. (New Mexico), Amador Health Center (New Mexico), Care For the Homeless (New York), Citizen Action of New York (New York), Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (New York), Southern Tier AIDS Program/Southern Tier Care Coordination (New York), Truth Pharm Inc. (New York), VOCAL-NY (New York), Benevolence Farm (North Carolina), Fruit of Labor Action Research & Technical Assistance, LLC (North Carolina), Guilford County Solution to the Opioid Problem (GCSTOP) (North Carolina), Halifax County Health Department (North Carolina), NC Public Health Association (North Carolina), North Carolina AIDS Action Network (North Carolina), North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (North Carolina), Tia Hart Community Recovery Program (North Carolina), Brave Technology Co-Op (Ohio), Caracole (Ohio), Cincinnati Health Network (Ohio), Harm Reduction Ohio (Ohio), Nelsonville Voices (Ohio), Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) (Ohio), Ohio Council of Churches (Ohio), OhioCAN (Ohio), River Valley Organizing (Ohio), Showing Up for Racial Justice Ohio (Ohio), Central City Concern (Oregon), HIV Alliance (Oregon), Oregonizers (Oregon), Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network (Pennsylvania), Reclaim Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) (Pennsylvania), Project Weber/RENEW (Rhode Island), Clear Bell Solutions (South Carolina), United Way of West Tennessee (Tennessee), United Ways of Tennessee (Tennessee), Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (Texas), Texas Center for Justice & Equity (Texas), Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (Texas), Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces (U.S. Provinces), Association for Utah Community Health (Utah), Virginia Rural Health Association (Virginia), Blue Mountain Heart to Heart (Washington), Country Doctor Community Health Centers (Washington), Family Health Centers (Washington), Hassanah Consulting (Washington), HealthPoint (Washington), Neighborcare Health (Washington), Northwest Health Law Advocates (Washington), Public Health - Seattle & King County (Washington), Spokane Police Department (Washington), Summit Pacific Medical Center (Washington), WA Academy of Family Physicians (Washington), WA Association of Community Health (Washington), WA Society of Addiction Medicine (Washington), Washington Community Action Network (Washington), Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) (Washington), Yakima Neighborhood Health Services (Washington), WV Citizen Action Group (West Virginia), Citizen Action of Wisconsin (Wisconsin)
[i] Regina LaBelle, After a brutal year of overdose deaths, the US needs urgent, coordinated action, The Hill (Jan. 3, 2022); Jim Carroll, To save lives from addiction, Congress should pass the MAT Act, Washington Examiner (May 16, 2022).
[ii] U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, Final Report, at p. 49-50 (Feb. 8, 2022).
[iii] See Nat’l Acad. of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Consensus Study Report: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Save Lives, Nat’l Acad. Press (2019); U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, Final Report, at p. 30-31.
[iv] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Svcs. Admin., Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, at p. 41 (Oct. 2021).
[v] U.S. Dep’t Health and Human Svcs., Office of Inspector General, Geographic Disparities Affect Access to Buprenorphine Services for Opioid Use Disorder, at Report in Brief and p. 10 (Jan. 2020).
[vi] See Kevin Fiscella, MD, MPH, Sarah E. Wakeman, MD, Leo Beletsky, JD, MPH, Buprenorphine Deregulation and Mainstreaming Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: X the X Waiver, 76(3) JAMA Psychiatry 229-30 (2018).
[vii] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Month-Ending Provisional Number of Drug Overdose Deaths (Aug. 2022).
[viii] Meryl Kornfield, U.S. surpasses record 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021, The Washington Post (May 11, 2022).