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May 13, 2021
Senator Jon Osoff
Russell Senate Office Building
Suite 455
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator,
I am appealing to you regarding H.R. 1384, Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act
(MAT), that seems to be at a standstill this year within Congress. This bill has been presented
two times, the former being S. 2074 which was presented in 2019, and both have had no forward
movement since being offered.
I recognize that our nation’s opioid addiction crisis is a tiresome topic. As an obstetric
nurse I work with delivering mothers who test positive for opioid use and who would benefit
from this bill being passed. I have witnessed the benefits of the MAT programs however the
constraint on physicians can become harmful when those providers cannot adequately treat their
patients by prescribing buprenorphine to help with their patient’s opioid abuse.
We encourage our soon to be moms to accept help from Peer Recovery Coaches who
have walked the addiction path and are now adept at counseling these pregnant moms at the best
way to handle addiction withdrawal, dependency and maintaining their parenthood of their
newborn. One of the avenues is to provide a less restrictive way for providers to prescribe the
MAT drugs. The policy in action allows for providers to treat an average of thirty patients at a
time and requires a tedious certification before prescription rights are obtained by the providers. I
do agree that the providers should complete the eight-hour certification course, but we must do
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something that will allow them to prescribe to more patients and less bureaucracy red tape to
receive the certification (Marshall et al., 2020).
If we could encourage movement on this bill, we could see a vast population of people
who desire recovery be on the receiving end of this help. Research has shown that those enrolled
in MAT programs have a greater chance of sobriety, employment retainment, healthy social
interactions and a decrease in criminal activity (Marshall et al., 2020).
As a nurse who is also a Christian, I believe my calling is to be a voice for those who are
vulnerable and misunderstood. Luke 6:35 exemplifies us to be kind to the unlovable. Please help
be the voice of Christ as we work together to see this bill through its stages.
References
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GovTrack.us. (2021). S.445-117th Congress: mainstreaming addiction treatment act of 2021.
www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/s445
Marshall, K. D., Derse, A. R., Iserson, K. V., Kluesner, N., & Vearrier, L. (2020). Medications
for addiction treatment initiated from the emergency department: Ethical considerations.
The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 38(2), 343–348.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2019.09.022
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