American Medical Association Letter - Opioid Use Disorder Medication Access Request

Aug 25, 2026

Letter dated October 1, 2024 addressed to Dr. James Madara, CEO and Executive Vice President of the American Medical Association. The letter describes the opioid epidemic and the proven effectiveness of buprenorphine to reduce overdose risk and mortality, noting access limitations driven by stigma and outdated policies. It references the MAT Act signed in early 2023, highlights expansion of prescribers, and requests the recipient’s actions and plans to educate members, reduce stigma, improve incentives, and support MOUD prescribing and reimbursement, including questions on prior authorization and remaining barriers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Letter Request: Expanding Access to MOUD

Background and Impact of MOUD

MAT Act and Expansion of Prescribers

Local and National Efforts

Questions for the American Medical Association

October 1, 2024 Dr. James Madara CEO and Executive Vice President American Medical Association 330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 39300 Chicago, IL 60611 Dear Dr. James Madara, We write to you today to learn more about your existing actions and plans to eliminate barriers for accessing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) . Unfortunately, we are losing over 100,000 of our family, friends, and neighbors every year to the devastating disease of addiction. This suffering is made all the more devastating by the fact that, for nearly 20 years, we have had safe, effective medication that can cut the risk of opioid overdose in half and help people secure long-term recovery. But due to stigma and outdated policies, this medication-buprenorphine-reaches only 1 in 5 people who need it. Buprenorphine, one of three FDA-approved medications to treat opioid use disorder, is proven to reduce mortality by up to 50 percent. As you may know, we authored and championed a bill called the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment or the MAT Act, which was signed into law and went into effect in early 2023. Until the passage of the MAT Act, federal law made it easier to prescribe potentially addictive opioids than to treat someone with opioid use disorder. The dream of the MAT Act is to vastly increase access to life-saving addiction medicine with more providers able to prescribe so that people who seek help have treatment on demand. With the MAT Act now law, as a nation we have dramatically expanded our ability to treat addiction with buprenorphine, increasing the number of medical professionals who can prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder from 130,000 to 1.8 million. However, now that we have eliminated one barrier, the real work begins to fully realize the dream of the MAT Act and have addiction treatment accessible in every community. This will require many communities, providers and interests to step up and lead. On a local level, the Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan, Inc. (CDPHP) has implemented a value-based payment model where doctors treating patients with an OUD can earn nearly $200 more per visit on top of their normal reimbursement rate. Additionally, CDPHP is hosting a fourpart webinar series to promote the treatment of opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders by primary care providers. This training will count towards CME credits. Nationally, we also have heard of several plans offering increased reimbursement rates, funding hotlines to provide providers with support and educating providers. We are reaching out to you to learn more about what you are already doing, exploring doing or planning to do to help step up and play a role in increasing access to effective addiction treatment particularly for MOUD access. We ask that you respond to the following questions as soon as possible. 1. What are you doing to educate your members about the change in the law after the MAT Act? 2. What are you doing to reduce stigma around MOUD and increase access? 3. What would you like to see changed to better incentivize access to MOUD? 4. What resources, would help your members feel confident in prescribing MOUD? 5. What role do you believe reimbursements can play in increasing access to MOUD? 6. Should prior authorization be eliminated for MOUD? 7. Are there existing barriers you think we should be aware of that impact your members ability to increase patient access to MOUD? 8. Are there actions you need Congress to take that would in turn allow your members to expand access to MOUD? Treatment on demand can mean the difference between life and death. We recognize that many barriers remain to timely access to MOUD. We have hope that plans, hospitals, pharmacists, providers, pharmacies and every part ofour medical community will come together and rise to this occasion to save lives. If we unite as a nation and ask how all of us can play a role in increasing access to treatment, together we

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this letter to the American Medical Association?

To learn what the recipient is already doing, exploring, or planning to do to increase access to effective addiction treatment, especially medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

What change in law does the letter refer to, and why does it matter?

The letter refers to the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, signed into law in early 2023, which expands the ability to treat opioid use disorder by increasing the number of providers who can prescribe buprenorphine.

What specific topics does the letter ask the recipient to respond to?

The letter asks about member education after MAT Act, reducing stigma, incentives for access, resources to build confidence in prescribing MOUD, reimbursement roles, whether prior authorization should be eliminated, and remaining barriers affecting patient access.

Aug 25, 2026

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