Hassan opioid legislation included within Omnibus
Within the more than 4,100-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus government spending bill, one could find elements of legislation aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic introduced by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
WASHINGTON – Within the more than 4,100-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus government spending bill, one could find elements of legislation aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic introduced by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The bill, which passed the Senate on Thursday and passed the House on Friday, included pieces of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act and the Opioid Workforce Act, both of which received bipartisan co-sponsors when they were standalone bills.
Both of the bills address opioid addiction, with opioid-related deaths and overdoses climbing in Manchester over the last month.
The MAT Act, located in section 1262 (starting on page 3128) of the omnibus, eliminate the “x-waiver”, a limitation that limits the numbexr of medical practioners who can prescribe life-saving medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
The Opioid Workforce Act, located in section 4122, (starting on page 3729) helps address the severe shortage of doctors trained in addiction medicine by creating 200 new medical residency positions, including for addiction medicine, at teaching hospitals in New Hampshire and elsewhere in the U.S.
“The opioid epidemic continues to devastate communities across New Hampshire, which is why I fought to ensure that the end-of-year funding bill includes measures I have long championed to increase access to treatment and expand the opioid workforce,” said Hassan. “Importantly, this package includes my bill to expand access to medication-assisted treatment that has helped save countless lives. I look forward to joining with my colleagues to pass this legislation as soon as possible.”
Full text of the omnibus can be found here.
