[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5811-H5813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     EASY MEDICATION ACCESS AND TREATMENT FOR OPIOID ADDICTION ACT

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2281) to direct the Attorney General to amend certain 
regulations so that practitioners may administer not more than 3 days' 
medication to a person at one time when administering narcotic drugs 
for the purpose of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2281

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Easy Medication Access and 
     Treatment for Opioid Addiction Act'' or the ``Easy MAT for 
     Opioid Addiction Act''.

[[Page H5812]]

  


     SEC. 2. DISPENSATION OF NARCOTIC DRUGS FOR THE PURPOSE OF 
                   RELIEVING ACUTE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS FROM OPIOID 
                   USE DISORDER.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Attorney General shall revise section 1306.07(b) of 
     title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, so that practitioners, 
     in accordance with applicable State, Federal, or local laws 
     relating to controlled substances, are allowed to dispense 
     not more than a three-day supply of narcotic drugs to one 
     person or for one person's use at one time for the purpose of 
     initiating maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment 
     (or both).

     SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 2281.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2281, the Easy 
Medication Access and Treatment for Opioid Addiction Act, or the Easy 
MAT for Opioid Addiction Act.
  As we have highlighted on the floor today, the opioid epidemic is a 
public health emergency that we must continue to address. Millions of 
Americans have been impacted by the drug crisis. A 2019 National Survey 
on Drug Use and Health shows that 1.6 million Americans have an opioid 
use disorder. This is a chronic, treatable disease that patients can 
and do recover from.
  While the number of Americans with opioid use disorder was declining 
prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it is still alarming that less than 
one out of five of these Americans actually receive treatment.
  The Easy MAT for Opioid Addiction Act is a bill that makes it easier 
for patients to access medication-assisted treatment in the emergency 
room. For many patients, whether it be those experiencing an overdose 
or those seeking substance use disorder treatment, the emergency room 
can be the first or only point of care.
  Buprenorphine is one of three FDA-approved medications for treating 
opioid use disorder. In emergency situations, it may be dispensed from 
an emergency room by certain practitioners for up to 3 days. This 
policy is otherwise known as the 3-day rule.
  This rule is intended to help healthcare providers address acute 
withdrawal symptoms while a patient awaits arrangements for longer term 
medication-assisted treatment. But, unfortunately, there are several 
burdensome restrictions tied to this authority. For example, there is a 
limitation that not more than 1 day's medication be given to a patient 
at one time, forcing the repeated return to the emergency room.
  Mr. Speaker, in testimony before the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, Dr. Shawn Ryan, an emergency physician and addiction medicine 
specialist, cited the burden for a patient having to return to the 
emergency room after an initial visit, particularly for patients with 
substance use disorder. He stated that transportation can be an issue 
for these patients but also that repeat visits can be a burden for the 
emergency departments.
  This bill would direct the Drug Enforcement Administration to update 
regulations to allow a practitioner to dispense up to 3 days' supply of 
buprenorphine. This will give patients and families a better 
opportunity to get connected to adequate treatment on the road to 
recovery.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, Representative Ruiz, a member of 
our committee, and his staff for leading this bill. I also thank 
Ranking Member Walden and his staff for working with us to move this 
bill forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense 
legislation that will help more substance use disorder patients access 
the treatment they need, and I reserve the balance of my time.
                                         House of Representatives,


                             Committee on Energy and Commerce,

                                Washington, DC, November 16, 2020.
     Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
     Chair, Committee on Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Nadler: Thank you for consulting with the 
     Committee on Energy and Commerce and agreeing to be 
     discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2281, the Easy 
     MAT for Opioid Addiction Act, so that the bill may proceed 
     expeditiously to the House floor.
       I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure 
     does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of 
     your committee or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives 
     on this measure or similar legislation in the future. I would 
     support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate 
     number of conferees from your committee to any House-Senate 
     conference on this legislation.
       I will seek to place our letters on H.R. 2281 into the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. 
     I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and 
     look forward to continuing to work together as this measure 
     moves through the legislative process.
           Sincerely,
                                               Frank Pallone, Jr.,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                Washington, DC, November 16, 2020.
     Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.,
     Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Pallone: This is to advise you that the 
     Committee on the Judiciary has now had an opportunity to 
     review the provisions in H.R. 2281, the ``Easy Medication 
     Access and Treatment for Opioid Addiction Act,'' that fall 
     within our Rule X jurisdiction. I appreciate your consulting 
     with us on those provisions. The Judiciary Committee has no 
     objection to your including them in the bill for 
     consideration on the House floor, and to expedite that 
     consideration is willing to forgo action on H.R. 2281, with 
     the understanding that we do not thereby waive any future 
     jurisdictional claim over those provisions or their subject 
     matters.
       In the event a House-Senate conference on this or similar 
     legislation is convened, the Judiciary Committee reserves the 
     right to request an appropriate number of conferees to 
     address any concerns with these or similar provisions that 
     may arise in conference.
       Please place this letter into the Congressional Record 
     during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank 
     you for the cooperative spirit in which you have worked 
     regarding this matter and others between our committees.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Jerrold Nadler,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2281, the Easy 
Medication Access and Treatment, or Easy MAT, for Opioid Addiction Act, 
which was introduced by myself and my Committee on Energy and Commerce 
colleague, Mr. Ruiz.
  Emergency room clinicians are well positioned to interact with those 
struggling with opioid addiction and help transition them into 
treatment. Currently, an ER clinician who does not have a DATA 2000 
waiver can only provide a 1-day supply of narcotic drugs to be used for 
medication-assisted treatment to an individual at one time for a total 
of up to 3 days.
  What does that mean? It means that while the patient waits to get 
into treatment, they have to go back to that same clinician on each of 
those 3 days to obtain medication.
  Now, in a rural district such as mine--which, by the way, is larger 
than the landmass of any State east of the Mississippi--this is not 
realistic, especially when there is already a shortage of health 
practitioners who are willing to treat patients with substance use 
disorder.
  One of my constituents, who I met in Hermiston, Oregon, told me she 
had to travel 5 hours--5 hours--just to find a physician who could 
oversee her Suboxone treatment because no one in her community was 
available to do that.
  H.R. 2281 would allow physicians to dispense up to 3 days of narcotic 
drugs at one time for purposes of relieving withdrawal symptoms while 
the individual awaits arrangements for treatment.

[[Page H5813]]

  This is commonsense legislation, another good product of the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers at this time, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Utah 
(Mr. Curtis), Utah's Third Congressional District.
  Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2281, which 
is an important bill to help thousands of Americans who struggle with 
addiction.
  This bipartisan, commonsense legislation will give individuals 
greater access to medication-assisted treatment, MAT, to help relieve 
withdrawal symptoms.
  Current law only allows providers to use this treatment once per day 
unless they have a waiver to prescribe the medication, and less than 10 
percent of providers have that waiver.
  This is especially problematic because substance use disorder 
treatment programs can take days to accept new patients, leaving many 
individuals unable to gain access to immediate treatment and, instead, 
leaving patients no choice but to return to the emergency room or the 
provider they received MAT from the day prior or, even worse, to take 
drugs again to stop their withdrawal symptoms.
  Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation puts the individual first 
and is part of a collaborative approach to combat addiction of all 
types.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their work on this important 
legislation.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, we have no speakers left on our side, so I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I urge my 
colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2281, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________