HELP Committee Passes Sens. Rand Paul and Edward Markey "TREAT Act"
Thursday, March 17, 2016 3:39 pm WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed Sen. Rand Paul (R- KY) and Sen. Ed Markey's bill (D-MA) - The Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT Act). The bipartisan TREAT Act would expand specialized treatment for prescription drug and heroin addiction. The TREAT Act would expand the ability of addiction medical specialists and other trained medical professionals to provide life-saving medication-assisted therapies such as buprenorphine, also called Suboxone, for patients battling heroin and prescription drug addiction. This legislation would also allow qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants the ability to prescribe this medication for the first time. "All across Kentucky, I have heard time and time again from families and medical professionals how the federal government's arbitrary patient caps are blocking access to effective and proven treatments for those who want help, and ultimately, harming both the addicted person and their loved ones. The TREAT Act will remove a roadblock to getting people the help they need to break the cycle of addition and get on a path to recovery," said Senator Paul. From the Paul Press Office: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE TREAT ACT Expands the maximum allowable patient cap from 100 to 500 maximum patients. Changes the initial (first year) allowable patient load under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from 30 to 100, and after one year a physician may request to treat up to 500 patients.
Physicians must be substance abuse treatment specialists, as recognized by specific board or society certifications, or Non-specialist physicians must complete 24 hours of approved training.
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