U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) were among several lawmakers who sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Sylvia Burwell, urging her to address the severe opioid-abuse epidemic in the U.S. by increasing access to treatment for prescription-pain addiction.
“Numerous studies have shown that MAT (medication-assisted therapy) is cost-effective and reduces drug use, disease rates, overdose risk and criminal activity among opioid-addicted persons,” the letter said. “Despite the effectiveness of MAT as one of the tools available to treat opioid addiction, there is significant under-treatment with this proven therapy.”
Although effective medications to treat opioid-use disorders exist today, federal regulations continue to limit access to some life-saving, effective treatments, and chief among them is MAT. Only 10 percent of the 23 million Americans with addiction and substance-use disorders receive any care in a given year.
Specifically, the use of MAT “is highly controlled,” and current law arbitrarily “caps the number of addicted patients a physician can treat at any one time.” To remedy this disparity, HHS has the authority under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 to increase access to MATs for the treatment of opioid-use disorders.
The aim of the senators’ letter was to reiterate the fact that raising the “prescriber caps” for “highly effective MAT medications” would enable “physicians to treat more patients…and improve and increase access to quality and comprehensive opioid-treatment programs.”
Collins has represented Maine in the U.S. Senate since 1997. Born in Caribou, Maine, in 1952, Collins was educated at St. Lawrence University. She serves on the following committees: Appropriations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; the Select Committee on Intelligence; and the Special Committee on Aging.