[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.
____________________