WE NEED YOUR SIGNATURE – Make Counseling and Therapeutic Intervention Mandatory for Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Funding

AZZLY joins the Behavioral Health Association of Providers (BHAP) in asking you to support the behavioral health industry by signing this petition.

This petition will be delivered to President Trump, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and would urge them to require facilities receiving federal funding for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to also provide counseling and therapeutic intervention.

BHAP’s mission is to reliably inform industry professionals on the latest compliance standards and best practices. AZZLY® is a proud organizational member of BHAP.

Three Important Takeaways

Major legislation has been passed dedicating funding to MAT at the state and federal level (remember last year’s Opioid Crisis Response Act?). However, there is still much room for improvement.

Federal law requires patients receiving MAT to also undergo counseling. However this is almost never taken into account by federal funding packages. These packages do not correlate increased funding for MAT with funding dedicated for the counseling and behavioral therapies required of MAT patients.

Some significant implications of the petition, if BHAP’s suggestions were passed by the federal government, include the following:

1. 1. Supporting a MAT or OBOT set up – BHAP’s proposal supports medication-assisted treatment and office-based opioid treatment (OBOT), which uses opioid agonists like buprenorphine, naltrexone in an office setting.

1. 1. Support for counseling – the petition urges lawmaker to bolster counseling by requiring facilities that receive federal funding for MAT to provide counseling services. This federal financial support would be a moral victory for abstinence-based treatment providers that emphasize therapy and would strengthen the addiction treatment industry as a whole.

1. Dedicates funding for MAT and OBOT specifically – as each state has dollars segregated to different addiction programs, BHAP’s proposal is significant for segregating funds specifically for MAT and OBOT.

We believe these represent important changes that will better equip clinicians and improve patient outcomes.

I’m Sold. Where Do I Sign?

Here. Join AZZLY in supporting BHAP and the behavioral health industry by promoting this petition.

AZZLY’s EHR solution AZZLY Rize™ empowers MAT and OBOT clinicians like those that would benefit from this legislation. AZZLY Rize streamlines your process from start to finish, intake to billing for professional and institutional claims reimbursement. Contact us to learn more about AZZLY Rize and to access free demos.