Senator Hassan Discusses Importance of Broadening Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment

NEW HAMPSHIRE - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined People’s Action and End Substance Use Disorder for a virtual event yesterday on the importance of medication assisted treatment and the need to pass the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act. Senator Hassan introduced the bipartisan MAT Act, legislation that would vastly increase access to life-saving addiction medicine by eliminating a duplicative bureaucratic hurdle—colloquially known as the “x-waiver”—currently blocking millions of highly trained health professionals from prescribing buprenorphine to their patients.

Click here to watch Senator Hassan’s remarks.

“We have to pass the bipartisan Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, which I introduced with Senator Lisa Murkowski. This is a bipartisan bill and has bipartisan support – and the fact that it does is a testament to all of your efforts to educate lawmakers about the importance of medication-assisted treatment. It is the gold standard for treating substance use disorder. And our bill would expand access to medication-assisted treatment for those struggling with opioid use disorder by eliminating the outdated waiver requirement,  which prevents many providers from being able to prescribe medication-assisted treatment to their patients,” said Senator Hassan during the virtual event. “I’m hopeful that if we stay the course, we’ll see the MAT Act become law so more people who are in need can access this life-saving recovery medication.”

Senator Hassan has long pushed to expand access to medication-assisted treatment. Earlier this year and following Senator Hassan’s advocacy, the Biden administration removed some requirements that limited health care providers’ ability to prescribe buprenorphine, a critical medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder. Senator Hassan has also led additional efforts to combat the substance use disorder crisis. Since 2017, Senators Hassan alongside Senator Jeanne Shaheen has worked to secure more than $86 million to New Hampshire in State Opioid Response grant funding to address the substance use disorder epidemic.

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