On the recordNovember 17, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2281, which is an important bill to help thousands of Americans who struggle with addiction. This bipartisan, commonsense legislation will give individuals greater access to medication-assisted treatment, MAT, to help relieve withdrawal symptoms. Current law only allows providers to use this treatment once per day unless they have a waiver to prescribe the medication, and less than 10 percent of providers have that waiver. This is especially problematic because substance use disorder treatment programs can take days to accept new patients, leaving many individuals unable to gain access to immediate treatment and, instead, leaving patients no choice but to return to the emergency room or the provider they received MAT from the day prior or, even worse, to take drugs again to stop their withdrawal symptoms. Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation puts the individual first and is part of a collaborative approach to combat addiction of all types. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their work on this important legislation.
