Advocacy Alert: Bipartisan Bill Introduced to Increase OUD Treatment Access

July 23, 2026

via Congressman Donald Norcross

Congressmen Donald Norcross, Mike Lawler, and Paul Tonko introduced the bipartisan Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0 (MOTAA 2.0) on July 21, 2026.

The bill, which has been endorsed by more than 50 health care and recovery organizations, would establish a safe process for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder (OUD) to access methadone through their local pharmacy. NBHAP is one of many organizations that have endorsed the legislation.

Methadone is one of the two primary OUD treatments recommended by the World Health Organization. It reduces all-cause mortality by over 50 percent and has been effectively prescribed worldwide for roughly 50 years. Yet while pharmacies can easily distribute methadone for pain relief, OUD patients can only access the treatment under direct supervision in an opioid treatment program (OTP) – facilities that are unavailable in approximately 80 percent of counties across the United States.

Notably, nearly one-third of OTPs are owned by private equity firms – a higher percentage than practically any other field of medicine and a share that is still growing. This trend has not increased the supply of methadone and has shown few tangible benefits, and private equity has financed staunch opposition to reforms that would boost treatment access.

In addition to allowing board-certified addiction physicians and psychiatrists to prescribe methadone and pharmacies to dispense it, the MOTAA 2.0 adds new provisions to the legislation that Norcross previously led in 2023. These changes include more safety guardrails and flexibility for the Department of Health and Human Services to authorize future licensed providers without Congress needing to pass a separate law.

Read the full announcement here here.

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