Thread by @Arnold_Ventures

The drop in opioid overdose deaths from 2017-2018 (4.6%) is promising, but there is much more work to be done—the report showed a decrease in deaths in 5 jurisdictions, but rates stayed the same in most states. npr.org/sections/healt… #SOTU

We're encouraged to see admin in 2019 implement key SUPPORT Act provisions, including requiring Medicaid to cover OUD meds through 2025, Medicare to cover more opioid treatment programs, and CMS to issue guidance to states on federal options for reimbursing telehealth. #SOTU

SUPPORT also expanded providers who can prescribe buprenorphine with a waiver—an #evidencebased, life-saving treatment that is the gold standard for treating opioid addiction. #SOTU

But we need federal action removing the requirement that doctors have a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. HR 2482 does this. govtrack.us/congress/bills… #SOTU

What still needs to be done at federal level:
-Require providers that receive federal $$ use evidence-based medication and treatment practices
-Lift the DEA ban on mobile methadone
-Approve state requests to pay for treatment in jail 30 days pre-release using Medicaid $$ #SOTU

We’ll quote grantee @ReginaLabelle: “We're just at the beginning of a much longer term effort to change the way we treat addiction in this country... it will be many more years before we can say the nation's policies truly embrace addiction as a public health issue.” #SOTU