CFHA Supports Bill Removing Barriers To Prescribing Life-Saving Opioid Treatment Medications

For immediate release: September 5, 2019
Rochester (NY), Chapel Hill (NC), Denver (CO), Madison (WI) – The Board of the
Collaborative Family Healthcare Association released the following statement today
to support legislation in Congress (H.R. 2482) that removes barriers to physician
prescribing of life-saving opioid treatment:

“As a national coalition of leaders in integrated care we are acutely aware of
the access-to-care crisis for patients with opioid use disorders. We also
acknowledge the paradox that exists where physicians who prescribe
controlled substances cannot prescribe medication (eg. Buprenorphine) for
addiction to these controlled substances without additional training and
registration.
The legislation in the House of Representatives (H.R. 2482) would amend
section 303(g) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)) to eliminate
the separate registration requirement for dispensing narcotic drugs in
schedule III, IV, or V. The legislation also calls for a national education
campaign to encourage providers to provide Medication Assisted Treatment
(MAT).
We support this effort which would enable more providers to provide MAT
and thus save more lives. We also support the effort to educate providers as
to the benefits of integrating substance abuse care into their practices. Our
firm belief is that substance abuse care should be treated in much the same
fashion as chronic illnesses (eg. diabetes) and that with integrated care
teams we can support our nation’s primary care providers to confidently
face the opioid epidemic.”

About the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (cfha.net)
The Collaborative Family Healthcare Association is a national member-driven non-profit organization
dedicated to making the integration of mental and physical health the standard of care nationally. Our
interdisciplinary membership of physicians, patients, clinicians, educators, nurses, behavioral health
professionals, foundations, payers, advocates and researchers work to promote comprehensive and
cost-effective models of healthcare delivery that integrate mind and body, individual and family,
patients, providers and communities. CFHA has staff in Rochester, NY, Denver, CO, Chapel Hill, NC &
Madison, WI.

Media Contact: Neftali Serrano, PsyD, Chief Executive Officer, nserrano@cfha.net
Twitter: @cfha_tweet, Website: http://cfha.net