Purpose
Create aggregate demographic and geographic profiles of individuals who use medication-assisted treatment; examine the availability of and barriers to accessing medication-assisted treatment, including federal, state and local laws and regulations; determining the current utilization of, and projected need for, medication-assisted treatment in inpatient and outpatient settings, including, but not limited to, inpatient and residential substance use treatment facilities, inpatient psychiatric settings, pharmacy settings, mobile settings and primary care settings; identify ways to expand access to medication-assisted treatment in both inpatient and outpatient settings; identify ways to encourage practitioners to seek waivers to administer buprenorphine to treat patients with opioid use disorder; study the availability of and concurrent use of behavioral health therapy for individuals receiving medication-assisted treatment; and other related matters.
19 Members
- the commissioner of public health or a designee, who shall serve as chair;
- the executive director of the health policy commission or a designee;
- the director of Medicaid or a designee;
- the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on mental health, substance use, and recovery or their designees;
- the ranking house and senate minority members of the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery or their designees;
- representative of community health centers,
- representative of a primary care provider with experience providing medication-assisted treatment,
- representative who is an expert in substance use disorder treatment;
- representative of the Massachusetts Medical Society;
- representative of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, Inc.;
- representative of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc.;
- representative of the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems, Inc.;
- representative of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, Inc.;
- representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc.;
- representative of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association;
- representative of Advocates for Human Potential, Inc.; and
- representative the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, Inc.
Reporting
The commission shall file a report on its findings and recommendation, together with any recommendations for legislation, with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate no later than August 2019