HHS distributes $47.8 million to expand access to opioid use disorder medications
The grant awards are part of ongoing federal efforts in prevention, treatment, recovery support and harm reduction, HHS said.
Photo: Jeff Lagasse/Healthcare Finance News
The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is announcing awards in five grant programs devoted to combating multiple facets of substance misuse and the nation's overdose epidemic. The grant awards total up to $47.8 million.
The grant awards are part of ongoing federal efforts in prevention, treatment, recovery support and harm reduction – the pillars of the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy. The Overdose Prevention Strategy is meant to advance the Biden Administration's National Drug Control Strategy, which delivers on the call to action in President Biden's Unity Agenda for a whole-of-government approach to beat the overdose epidemic.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA), signed by Biden in December 2022, removed the requirement for practitioners to have a waiver to prescribe medications, like buprenorphine, for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).
All practitioners who have a current Drug Enforcement Administration registration that includes Schedule III authority may now prescribe buprenorphine for OUD in their practice if permitted by applicable state law.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
There are five grant programs total. One is the Medication-Assisted Treatment-Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction (MAT-PDOA) Grant Program, distributing 21 awards totaling up to $18.4 million. This program helps expand or enhance access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). It is expected that this program will help to increase the number of individuals with OUD receiving MOUD, and decrease illicit opioid use and prescription opioid misuse.
There's also the Emergency Department Alternatives to Opioids Demonstration Program, distributing 15 awards and a total of up to $7.4 million. This program develops and implements alternatives to opioids for pain management in hospitals and emergency department settings. HHS said strategies should include "innovative approaches" to the management of pain, including team-based approaches that could be initiated in ED settings where many individuals with such conditions seek acute care. Those approaches then could be continued in other organizational settings such as primary care or specialty pain management settings.
The third program is the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP Act) program, distributing 50 awards and a total of up to $3 million. This program prevents and reduces alcohol use among youth and young adults ages 12-20 in communities throughout the U.S. The program aims to: address norms regarding alcohol use by youth, reduce opportunities for underage drinking, create changes in underage drinking enforcement efforts, address penalties for underage use and/or reduce negative consequences associated with underage drinking (e.g., motor vehicle crashes, sexual assaults).
In addition, awardees will build on strategic plans that were developed under a Drug Free Communities award utilizing the strategic prevention framework model, which aims to address underage drinking behaviors.
Fourth on the list is the Adult Reentry Program, distributing 34 awards totaling up to $13.6 million. This program expands substance use disorder treatment and related recovery and reentry services to sentenced adults in the criminal justice system who have SUDs and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders – adults who are returning to their families and community following a period of incarceration in state and local facilities including prisons, jails or detention centers.
HHS said maintaining treatment and recovery during this transition period is crucial to help prevent overdose, particularly for people whose opioid tolerance has decreased as they have received treatment while incarcerated.
Last is the State Pilot Grant Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women, distributing six awards that total up to $5.4 million. This program enhances flexibility in the use of funds designed to: support family-based services for pregnant and postpartum women with a primary diagnosis of an SUD, including OUDs; help state substance abuse agencies address the continuum of care, including services provided to pregnant and postpartum women in nonresidential-based settings; and promote a coordinated, effective and efficient state system managed by state substance abuse agencies by encouraging new approaches and models of service delivery.
Anyone in the United States seeking treatment for substance use issues should call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4357) or visit findtreatment.gov.
THE LARGER TREND
This isn't the first time HHS has allocated grant funding to programs geared toward addressing the opioid crisis. In September 2022 HHS awarded more than $1.6 billion in investments for communities throughout the country to address the addiction and overdose crisis.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, more than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, an increase of more than 15% from 2020.
In President Biden's first State of the Union, he named addressing the opioid crisis and overdose epidemic a top priority of his Administration, and in 2022 released his National Drug Control Strategy to expand access to treatment for addiction and overdose, and to disrupt drug trafficking.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
