Senator Hassan Discussed Her New Medication-Assisted Treatment Law with NH Health Leaders at Visit to Farnum Center
MANCHESTER – In case you missed it, Senator Maggie Hassan visited the Farnum Center in Manchester to discuss her new law that will increase access to medication-assisted treatment, helping address the opioid crisis. The year-end government funding package that President Biden recently signed into law includes Senator Hassan’s bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, which eliminates an outdated requirement, the ‘x-waiver,’ that limits the number of medical practitioners who can prescribe life-saving medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
See below for coverage highlights:
Manchester Ink Link: Hassan, Craig discuss opioid treatment approaches at Farnum Center
By Andrew Sylvia
On Monday, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and other local mental health and substance abuse experts at the Farnum Center to discuss the impact of medication assisted treatment toward fighting the state’s opioid epidemic.
Following a tour of the facility, Hassan sat down with the roundtable of experts to explore future steps that can be taken following the recent appropriation of finding within the end of the year omnibus spending bill. A version of Hassan’s Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act and Opioid Workforce Act were included inside the omnibus, the former making it easier for individuals to prescribe life-saving medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse disorder and the latter increasing the number of medical residency positions across the U.S.
Hassan told the experts she learned that 40 percent of counties across the United States currently have no individuals who can provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse.
“This is an illness that strikes people from all walks of life from every neighborhood,” she said.
Craig was grateful to Hassan for the federal assistance on the issue of supporting those facing opioid addiction. She noted that approximately half of opioid overdoses came from the people without fixed residences and that the funding from Washington not only helps those people in need, but also provides individualized treatment plans for those who need support, which she said helps reduce criminal activity and increases a person’s likelihood of continuing treatment […]
Union Leader: Mayor Craig: Half of Manchester overdoses attributed to homeless people
By Michael Cousineau
[…] U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., headlined the discussion of a recently signed law spearheaded by her and others to increase access to medication-assisted treatment.
“Evidence is real clear that medication-assisted treatment, otherwise known as MAT, is the single best, most effective option for treating patients with substance use disorder,” Hassan said at the Farnum Center, which offers alcohol and drug treatment programs.
The law removed a requirement for doctors to get a waiver to dispense it.
“That should in fact really allow many more providers here in New Hampshire and across the country to prescribe this critical treatment,” Hassan said.
After the discussion, Annette Escalante, senior vice president of substance use treatment service at Farnum, said it will help.
“I think it will expand and open up more opportunities for clients to access MAT treatments,” Escalante said.
More than 8,000 people in New Hampshire accessed medication-assisted treatment through Medicaid expansion during the 2022 fiscal year worth $21.6 million, according to Jake Berry, vice president of policy for New Futures, a nonprofit that advocates, educates, and collaborates to improve the health and wellness of New Hampshire residents. […]
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