Substance Use-Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, all across my district, I have encountered stories of individuals and families whose lives have been irrevocably changed by the scourge of the opioid epidemic: a father who lost his daughter too young and is pouring his grief into advocacy, a former neighbor and a dad who left behind two young children, a young man who is walking the hard path of recovery and showing others how to do the same.
These are the stories I hear day in and day out. They fill my heart; they fill my voice. And it is because of them that I am so very proud to cast a vote in favor of H.R. 6 today. It is my hope that this legislation will be another small step for our Nation on its road of recovery from this epidemic.
I am particularly proud that this bill incorporates legislation that I have introduced, along with my good friend Representative Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, which will provide a meaningful expansion to high- quality addiction treatment by allowing additional healthcare providers, such as nurse midwives, to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
In addition, this provision will make permanent buprenorphine- prescribing authority for nurse practitioners and physician assistants and allow certain providers to treat more patients in the first year of their license.
These changes will make a big difference for individuals struggling from addiction across our country, especially in rural areas, and for vulnerable populations like pregnant and postpartum women and the 13,000 babies born each year with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
I also want to highlight the inclusion of my Medicaid Reentry Act into this bill, which aims to improve care for individuals who are leaving jail or prison and reentering a community setting.
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Mr. TONKO. These individuals are highly vulnerable to opioid overdose due to lack of effective addiction treatment while incarcerated. By passing this legislation, we will allow States to engage in demonstration projects to improve medical care and transition-related services to Medicaid-eligible incarcerated individuals in the 30 days prior to their release, reducing the risk of overdose as individuals are coming back into the community for a second chance. I truly believe that this provision will transform lives.
I thank Ranking Member Pallone, Chairman Walden, and their staffs for their continued efforts in this process. Without their dedicated, bipartisan work, we would not be making this progress today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6.
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