A majority of state attorneys general joined in a bipartisan coalition earlier this week and urged Congress to permit Medicaid funding toward larger substance use treatment centers in the U.S., increasing the number of Americans able to receive addiction treatment.
The attorneys general for Washington, D.C. and 38 states joined together to send a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, and other leaders in Congress. The letter entreats congressional leaders to end the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion, which places limitations on access to addiction treatment for individuals enrolled in Medicaid.
The decades-old IMD exclusion prevents larger drug addiction recovery centers from billing Medicaid for addiction recovery treatment.
By adopting the “Road to Recovery Act,” legislation introduced in June by Pennsylvania Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Americans with Medicaid coverage would be afforded wider access to inpatient addiction treatment at drug rehab clinics.
The “Road to Recovery Act,” which has received bipartisan support, aims to preserve the flexibility states have in implementing addiction recovery care while ensuring Medicaid enrollees have access to inpatient treatment.
It has become the official policy of both the National Association of Attorneys General as well as the White House’s Commision on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
Under the existing IMD exclusion, addiction recovery facilities that have… (continue reading)
Author: Topher Avery
Topher Avery is a contributor and editor at Addiction Now. A natural wordslinger, Topher studied English at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received his JD from Chapman University. Currently, Topher resides in Southern California beneath a pile of cats and books. Contact Topher at christophera@drugaddictionnow.com
