Press Releases
Urging feds to block cuts to methadone treatment paymentsState officials slashed payments, reducing access to treatment
Washington, DC,
October 13, 2015
State officials slashed payments, reducing access to treatment
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is urging the federal government to block a cut in payments for methadone treatment being implemented by Maine's Department of Health and Human Services. The cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates put Maine at or near the bottom of the list nationally for methadone treatment rates and has contributed to decreased access to treatment for those suffering from addiction. Despite clear evidence of a growing and critical problem, access to treatment options in Maine is declining. Maine has opted not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and that has left a significant number of Mainers uninsured and unable to afford treatment... In her letter, Pingree cited the rapidly increasing rates of opioid abuse in Maine—100 overdose deaths in 2014 and 63 in the first half of 2015 alone. |