Following Calls from Ayotte, Administration Finalizes Rule to Increase Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte welcomed the publication of a final rule by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to increase the number of patients with a substance use disorder that a physician can treat with medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in a given year. Under the new rule, eligible physicians will now be able to request approval to treat up to 275 patients per year.

"Increasing access to medication-assisted treatment is a critical component of turning the tide in the opioid abuse epidemic currently facing New Hampshire and much of the nation, and while I welcome publication of the final rule increasing the cap on MAT to 275 patients per year, I urge the administration to further increase the cap," Ayotte said.

"Eliminating the disparity that exists between those who can prescribe opioids and those who can prescribe treatment for opioid use disorders, and addressing the large gap between those with opioid use disorders and those receiving treatment for their illness are important initiatives, and while the final rule represents a positive step forward towards accomplishing those goals, there is more to work to be done. In addition to further raising the cap, I urge the administration to work quickly to help effectively implement provisions of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that will allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication-assisted treatment," she continued.

Ayotte has continually advocated for lifting the cap on access to MAT. In June 2016, Ayotte cosigned a letter from Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ed Markey (D-MA) asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell to increase the cap on the number of patients a physician is able to treat with MAT to 500 patients per year. In August 2015, Ayotte cosigned a letter from Senators Hatch and Markey asking HHS Secretary Burwell to use her Department's authority to raise the MAT prescriber caps and to consider expanding access to opioid use disorder treatment by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe MAT. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which Ayotte co-authored and pushed to get signed into law, will allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe MAT for a five year period.

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