Hudson Presses Biden Administration to Address Opioid Crisis With Overdue Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Richard Hudson (R-NC) is urging Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to release a long overdue rule to address overdoses and the opioid epidemic.
Under law, the Department was required to issue a new rule that will modernize substance use disorder privacy regulations by March 2021. The Department has failed to release that rule to reform current guidelines that are obstructing doctors from seeing a patient’s full medical record and previous substance use history. In a letter to Sec. Becerra, Rep. Hudson and colleagues urge the Secretary to issue a new rule that will ensure doctors have access to patients’ addiction medical information to prevent tragic overdoses and improve patient safety.
"Overdoses and the opioid epidemic have taken tragic tolls on our communities and country. I have been proud to lead efforts in combatting this epidemic, yet the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis on our southern border, and outdated regulations have made addressing this crisis more important than ever," said Rep. Hudson. "The Biden administration must act swiftly to release this overdue rule and stop this epidemic."
Rep. Hudson has long advocated for comprehensive measures for addressing the substance abuse and overdose crisis afflicting this country. This includes cosponsoring the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act of 2021 and the HALT Fentanyl Act, bills which will help keep deadly, addictive drugs like fentanyl off the streets, as well as improve addiction treatment services in communities nationwide.
Reps. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Neal Dunn (FL-02), Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Larry Bucshon (IN-08), and Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) joined Hudson on the letter, which comes as September is recognized as National Recovery Month.
The full letter can be found here and below.
Dear Secretary Becerra,
We are writing to you regarding the long overdue release of the 42 CFR Part 2 rule as required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (PL 116-136) during the 116th Congress. As required by section 3221 of the CARES Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was required to issue regulations 12-months after enactment of the legislation. It has been more than two years and we continue to wait on a proposed rule. During this time, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the substance use disorder crisis in the United States. More than 100,000 people lost their lives to overdose in the 12 months ending September 2021 reversing progress that was made as recently as 2019; it is the highest single year death toll -- specifically attributable to drug overdoses -- in US history.
The enacted provisions in the CARES Act better align federal privacy standards applicable to substance use disorder (SUD) patient records with other medical records – with the objective of facilitating the sharing of critical medical information for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations (TPO) as those terms are defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), while eliminating burdensome re-disclosure requirements.
The COVID pandemic has taken a tremendous toll on our nation’s mental health. Even worse, we have seen an increase of overdose deaths, especially from fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances. As our nation battles to reduce the surge of overdose deaths, we urge you to release the 42 CFR Part 2 proposed rule that will help modernize substance use disorder privacy regulations, allow our health care providers to better coordinate care for patients and reduce the ever-increasing number of opioid use disorder (OUD) deaths.
We look forward to working with you closely as HHS issues a new 42 CFR Part 2 rule that fully complies with the CARES Act. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
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