*A copy of this letter was also sent to the House of Representatives
April 19, 2018
The Honorable Bob Casey The Honorable Rob Portman
United States Senate United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Casey and Senator Portman:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to express our support for S. 2704, the “Medicare Beneficiary Opioid Addiction Treatment Act,” which would provide for coverage of methadone under Medicare Part B.
This legislation would allow Medicare payment for methadone addiction treatment on an outpatient basis. It is important because, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, 6 out of 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries struggle with opioid addiction. Physicians who are enrolled in Medicare and who are registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would be able to legally prescribe methadone treatment, to be paid for by Medicare, for furnishing detox and maintenance treatment with methadone for Medicare beneficiaries. Currently, Medicare only covers methadone under Part D to be used for pain management. By adding coverage of methadone under Part B, it would be provided by a physician and could be used as a course of addiction treatment to help hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries.
Thank you for your leadership on this important issue. We look forward to working with you to secure enactment of the “Medicare Beneficiary Opioid Addiction Treatment Act,” to improve the Medicare program and help combat the opioid crisis in our country.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO