The unrolling story of methadone vans in New York is being enthusiastically assisted by Allegra Schorr. She heads the Coalition of Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates (COMPA). COMPA represents New York State’s opioid treatment programs (OTPs) which are focused on making methadone more accessible to more patients. We talked to Schorr earlier this month about … [Read more...] about Mobile methadone in New York
Many SUD bills under consideration by Congress
This month, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee conducted a hearing focusing19 bills, most of them focusing on substance use disorders (SUDs). One of the bills would eliminate the requirement that a patient be addicted for a full year before being admitted to an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) for treatment with methadone. A concern by Congress is the large amount … [Read more...] about Many SUD bills under consideration by Congress
NY announces reimbursement for methadone vans
Last week Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced the availability of up to $1 million for establishing vans to provide medications, including methadone and buprenorphine. The funding would go only to Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), which would operate the vans. Funding is provided through the federal State Opioid Response (SOR) grant, and awarded through up to $200,000 would … [Read more...] about NY announces reimbursement for methadone vans
SAMHSA issues guidance on take-home flexibility extensions
The Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA) this month (March 2022) issued guidance on its extensions of exemptions for methadone take-home rules going beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. Under the new guidance, SAMHSA is “pre-emptively granting OTPs [opioid treatment programs] an exemption, effective upon the expiration of the COVID-19 Public … [Read more...] about SAMHSA issues guidance on take-home flexibility extensions
NASEM meeting on methadone focused on how to expand access using primary care
On March 3-4, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) hosted a workshop on how to expand access to methadone. We covered the entire meeting and will include individual stories focused on specific topics. The main point of the NASEM workshop was how to expand access to methadone for opioid use disorder (OUD) in non-legislative ways. AT … [Read more...] about NASEM meeting on methadone focused on how to expand access using primary care
