Advocacy Alert: Federal Acts for SUD and Opioid Crisis
December 6, 2018
SB 3462: Substance Use Disorder Recovery Expansion Act
On September 18, 2018, Senator Rob Portman and six other Senators introduced SB 3462.
The bill, if passed, would amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide states with the option to provide medical assistance for substance use disorder treatment services to individuals between the ages of 21 and 64.
The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance on the day it was introduced. No other action has been taken.
BHAP opposes this bill. While the intention to fund substance use disorder treatment is positive, this bill places maximum treatment provisions on the patient rather than allow the clinical evaluation to dictate the appropriate length of stay in a particular program. Additionally, this bill only allows 90 days of inpatient treatment in a 12-month period, which may not be sufficient treatment.
We encourage you to reach out to your representative and express your opposition of SB 3462.
HB 4284: INFO Act Indexing Narcotics, Fentanyl, and Opioids Act of 2018
On November 7, 2017, Representative Robert Lotta and eight other Republican Representatives introduced HB 4284.
The bill, if passed, would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate programs related to opioid abuse reduction, liaise with state and local entities carrying out activities relating to opioid abuse reduction, and establish and operate a publicly available electronic database to facilitate data collection related to opioid abuse.
The bill passed the House on June 12, 2018, after some amendments. The Senate read the bill twice, and referred it to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on June 13. No other action has been taken.
BHAP opposes this bill. The proposed action this bill takes is redundant: the Office of National Drug Control Policy is already conducting these activities.
We encourage you to reach out to your representative and express your opposition of HB 4284.
A national membership association that provides education and advocacy for those in the behavioral health and addiction treatment industries.
We are the leading and unifying voice of addiction-focused treatment programs.
