Flexibility in how existing federal funding can be used to treat opioid addiction would be granted under legislation recently reintroduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH).
Turner reintroduced The Reforming and Expanding Access to Treatment (TREAT) Act after a meeting with Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth that focused on local efforts to combat opioid abuse.
“Our country is facing an exponentially growing epidemic of opioid abuse that is resulting in drastic increases in addiction rates, overdose deaths and incarceration,” Turner said. “I have been working closely with the greater Dayton community for the past four years to fight this epidemic.”
The TREAT Act would remove a standing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration prohibition on using grants from its Center for Substance Abuse Treatment on incarcerated individuals. Grants could be used in community-based and institutional settings under Turner’s bill.
Turner introduced the TREAT Act with bipartisan support from seven Democratic original cosponsors.
“This bill would take commonsense steps to expand access to the resources used in treating individuals suffering from substance abuse disorders,” Turner added.
Additionally, the bill would amend Medicaid’s Institution for Mental Disease exclusion, which prevents reimbursement for substance treatment to facilities with more than 16 beds. Treatment to individuals at correctional institutions would be eligible for reimbursement under the bill.