Following Bipartisan Push from Senator Hassan, Administration Increases Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will roll back a requirement that limited physicians’ ability to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication that helps to treat opioid addiction. The Department will eliminate the need for most physicians to obtain the so-called “X” waiver in order to prescribe buprenorphine.

Senator Hassan has long pushed for the elimination of this requirement. In 2019, Senators Hassan and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act that would eliminate the need for this waiver.

“The opioid epidemic continues to devastate communities in New Hampshire and across the country, and we know that medication-assisted treatment can help save lives. Yet burdensome regulations limit the ability of our doctors to prescribe this vital medication,” said Senator Hassan. “I’ve pushed on a bipartisan basis to make it easier for physicians to prescribe medication-assisted treatment to their patients. I am pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services is taking steps forward in eliminating the waiver requirement for prescribing buprenorphine, and I will continue working across the aisle to increase access to medication-assisted treatment.”

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