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Cartwright Statement on Passage of SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act

H.R. 6 is a bipartisan package of opioids-related provisions

Washington, DC, October 4, 2018

Congressman Matt Cartwright (PA-17) released the following statement regarding House passage of H.R. 6 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act on Friday. Cartwright is a cosponsor of H.R. 5776, the Medicare and Opioid Safe Treatment (MOST) Act, which was included in the SUPPORT Act and provides for Medicare coverage of certain services furnished by opioid treatment programs.

“I am honored and grateful that our bill was included because this is an important piece of legislation to fight the national epidemic of opioid abuse,” Cartwright said. “This legislation will expand access to treatment and make long-term progress in addressing the major opioid problem our country is dealing with.”

A partial list of items contained in H.R. 6 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act are:

  • Expanding Medicare coverage of Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT).
  • Mandating Medicaid coverage of all forms of MAT.
  • Permanently allowing nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe or dispense buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).
  • Expanding the type of providers who can treat patients with buprenorphine for OUD.

The bill passed both the House and Senate, and now awaits the President’s signature. More detailed information can be found in the bill’s text by clicking here.

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