Biden administration moves to expand access to addiction treatment permanently
Abigail Adcox
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The Biden administration is moving to ease restrictions on take-home drugs to treat opioid addiction that were loosened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A proposed rule from the Health and Human Services Department would make it easier for patients to access medications used to treat opioid addiction, including methadone and buprenorphine, and allow providers to continue prescribing the drugs via telehealth without an in-person visit.
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“If it is easier to get illicit drugs in America than it is to get treatment, we will never bend the curve on overdoses. These proposed federal rule changes will make it easier for people to access lifesaving treatment and to maintain their recovery,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration relaxed regulations on take-home drugs, including methadone, in March 2020 as many were unable to access treatment in person. The following year, the HHS loosened requirements for providers to prescribe buprenorphine.
The proposed changes would maintain certain pandemic-era flexibilities, including permanently removing a requirement that patients must wait a year before being eligible to receive treatment at an opioid treatment program.
Patients taking methadone would also be allowed to continue taking home several weeks’ worth of doses versus only a single dose under the proposed rule.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, federal regulations typically required most people to visit an opioid treatment program daily or near daily in order to receive a dose of their medication, according to the Pew Research Center.
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The move comes as the Biden administration pushes to remove barriers to accessing treatment and recovery services to address the opioid crisis. The Food and Drug Administration is now reviewing whether to approve Narcan nasal spray for opioid overdoses to be sold over-the-counter.
Over 930,000 people in the United States have died from a drug overdose since 1999. In 2020, almost 75% of drug overdoses involved an opioid, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.