New Legislation Aims to Expand Access to Addiction-treatment Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In New England, 133,000 people are abusing or dependent on prescription drugs or heroin, while 70{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of them need treatment but aren’t currently receiving it. To address this urgent need for addiction treatment and recovery services in communities in Massachusetts and around the country, Sen. Ed Markey introduced new legislation to vastly expand the funding and resources needed to treat patients addicted to prescription drugs and heroin.

The Treatment and Recovery Investment Act increases funding for states so they can better assist individuals with substance-use disorders, including pregnant or parenting women and adolescents. The second piece of legislation, the Supporting Positive Outcomes After Release Act, will prohibit states from terminating an inmate’s Medicaid coverage while they are incarcerated, a practice that often prevents individuals from accessing treatment in the critical days and weeks after release.

Finally, Markey joined with several other senators to investigate the availability of addiction-treatment services and the overuse of opioid painkillers in the Veterans Affairs health system.

“If you are an addict and you need a bed, a doctor, a counselor, a group, even just a helping hand, you should have it,” he said. “When treatment that is effective and affordable is made available, people’s lives can be saved. We need to a massive effort at the federal, state, and local level to expand treatment and recovery services and get help to those who need it most. My legislation will increase the federal funds available to states and communities so they can expand treatment to wherever and whenever it is needed. It will also help ensure that released inmates have the coverage they need to get treatment when they reenter the community.”