GNYHA recently held a member briefing on the evolving landscape for medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which has become less burdensome on providers.
Robert Kent, President, Kent Strategic Advisors, LLC, reviewed the current regulatory landscape. The American Society of Addiction Medicine and Upstate University Hospital’s Ross Sullivan, MD, and Joshua J. Lynch, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, discussed strategies and resources to support hospital MAT services. GNYHA staff also detailed workforce investments at the Federal and State level.
Mr. Kent challenged recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that revealed a decrease in overdose deaths in 2023 in most areas of the country. “When you see a pattern over years, then it is something,” he said. “Otherwise, it is probably an anomaly.” He noted that Black and Brown communities have seen a large increase in overdose deaths, with fentanyl replacing heroin as the driver. He applauded Federal emergency relief efforts established during the COVID-19 public health emergency that remain in place until the end of this year —one extending telephonic prescription of buprenorphine and the other permitting patients to take home three days of methadone doses. Dr. Sullivan discussed buprenorphine administration in the emergency department. Getting individuals with opioid use disorder on MAT and connecting them to treatment programs is the most important way to address the ongoing national epidemic, he said. “This is science—it has to do with neurotransmitters in the brain—and nothing to do with morality.”
Dr. Lynch discussed the MATTERS Opioid Treatment Program he founded. He said the program “helps patients overcome obstacles to treatment” by providing them with critical wraparound services, including transportation and financial assistance for the first two weeks of buprenorphine treatment for those without health insurance. Dr. Lynch also highlighted recent MATTERS efforts on the harm-reduction front, including distributing more than 16 million test strips for fentanyl and the animal tranquilizer xylazine in vending machines.
GNYHA staff provided an overview of Federal and New York State programs to incentivize the education and training of psychiatrists and other behavioral health professionals. On the Federal level, over $300 million is available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Health Resources Services Administration. In New York State, the Office of Mental Health has made $18 million available as one of several strategies to address behavioral health workforce shortages. On the Medicare graduate medical education (GME) front, a minimum of 100 new Medicare-reimbursable GME slots for psychiatry and psychiatric subspecialty programs will be available effective July 1, 2026, with the application process opening in January 2025.