The AHA Dec. 7 sent a letter supporting the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4531), bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize key SUPPORT Act programs for patients with substance use disorder and permanently extend required Medicaid coverage for medication-assisted treatments. As urged by the AHA in June, the bill also would permanently extend the option for state Medicaid programs to receive federal matching payments for substance use disorder treatment provided in certain Institutions for Mental Disease for up to 30 days over a 12-month period. 
 
"For our members, this flexibility allows them to ensure patients receive the specific care they need," AHA said in a letter to the bill’s sponsors, Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Ann Kuster, D-N.H. "Both provisions take important steps forward in increasing access to SUD treatment services and reducing the stigma associated with seeking out the help that is needed." 

The bill passed with unanimous consent out of the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year and awaits a vote on the House floor.  

Related News Articles

Headline
The White House June 6 issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services “to take appropriate action to eliminate…
Headline
A Congressional Budget Office report released June 4 found that enactment of the fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H…
Headline
The AHA June 3 launched the first in a new video series, “Medicaid: Real Lives, Real Care,” highlighting the importance of Medicaid and why proposed cuts…
Headline
The Wall Street Journal today published online a letter to the editor from AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack responding to a recent editorial, “The…
Blog
Even before the COVID pandemic, the mental health and wellness of our young people was failing. The pandemic exacerbated the crisis and made it difficult for…
Perspective
Public
After approval in the House last week by a one vote margin, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a sweeping package that would enact many of President Trump’s…