On January 18th, 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a statement to recognized the expansion of access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). The 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022, expands access to medication for opioid use disorder. The legislation removes barriers making it easier for qualified practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine and addresses the call to action from Biden’s Unity Agenda. This need for change in regulations was highlighted by SAMSHA’s estimates that 9.2 million people ages 12 and older misused opioids in the last year and shared that overdoses accounted for nearly 15% of all deaths in 2020. SAMSHA also created their own call to action urging all eligible practitioners who can offer access to buprenorphine under this new legislation to begin the process of doing so as laid out by their home-state regulations.

By Chris Bennett, Policy Intern