A Message From
Stop Stigma Now's Public Policy Committee
This will be the first of an ongoing series of articles on public policy issues as they affect Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and addiction services in general. If you are interested in getting involved with Stop Stigma Now's Public Policy Committee, please contact Steve Rabinowitz at steverabinowitz55@gmail.com
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During this year's New York State legislative session in late June, lawmakers passed two bills in an extraordinary bipartisan and virtually unanimous fashion that directly impacted the ability of persons with opioid use disorders (OUD) to access MAT quickly. The first, A2904/S 4808 was to eliminate prior authorizations for all MAT medications for commercial insurance policies.
The second, A7246/S5935, did the same for the Medicaid population. Special thanks is owed to Senator Peter Harckham, chair of the Senate Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee, and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, chair of the Assembly Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, for their efforts to craft the bills and shepherd them through to passage. Much credit is due as well to the Coalition of MAT Providers and Advocates (COMPA) and the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State (ASAP) for their work in getting the bills passed.
However, despite the overwhelming support for these bills and the clear intent to save lives and eliminate barriers to treatment, the Governor's office did not act for several months. Activists and treatment advocates began to raise concerns about this delay in the fall, only to hear that the Governor's office had concerns about the potential costs of the bills and was studying that. This led to the formation of a coalition called End Overdose NY composed of a number of activist organizations, including VOCAL-NY, Housing Works, Drug Policy Alliance, Legal Action Center, Families for Sensible Drug Policy (FSDP) and others. The coalition members held press conferences at several hearings held by the Senate Opioid Overdose Task Force on this issue, mobilized public support and held two rallies at the Governor's New York City office demanding that he sign the bills. Further, a study commissioned by the Legal Action Center and conducted by RTI, a renowned research firm, clearly showed that eliminating prior authorization for MAT would save over 500 lives annually and in fact would save money by reducing emergency room visits and providing for more efficient care for those with OUD.
At the Oct. 29 rally a delegation of two mothers who lost children to opioid overdose, Carol Katz Beyer., president and founder of FSDP, and Alexis Pleus from Truth Pharm (a harm reduction program in Ithaca) met with a representative for the Governor (I had the honor to accompany them as Vice President of FSDP) to tell him of their concerns and the urgency for him to sign the bills as well as to condemn a statement by the Governor's Press Secretary casting aspersions on the advocacy groups that were pushing for the bill. Despite this, there was still no action on the bill until late December when a flurry of negotiations occurred with the Governor's office offering 'chapter amendments' to the bills. These proposals, in effect, would have gutted the bills and were soundly rejected by the Senate and Assembly.
On Dec. 31 the Governor did finally sign the commercial insurance bill but vetoed the Medicaid bill, citing cost issues and casting blame on MAT manufacturers for this. This veto was met with outrage by all the groups involved--COMPA, ASAP and End Overdose NY--and has led to more demonstrations and widespread protest via social media.
As Tracie Gardner, Legal Action Center vice president for policy advocacy stated, “LAC strongly believes that it is vital for government, advocates, providers, and drug manufacturers to come together and promptly reach a workable solution. We all bear responsibility for ensuring that people with substance use disorders have immediate access to life-saving treatments.”
As FSDP stated, "We urge the Legislature to take prompt action to pass this bill again in 2020, and FSDP is committed to do whatever is needed to insure that it is signed into law this year."
Anyone interested in helping to insure that prior authorization for MAT is removed for all New Yorkers including those on Medicaid can contact Jasmine Budnella of VOCAL at jasmine@vocal-ny.org or myself at steverabinowitz55@gmail.com
Steven Rabinowitz
Chair, Public Policy Committee
Stop Stigma Now
