II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4618 

To improve access to opioid use disorder treatment services under the 

Medicare program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2022 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To improve access to opioid use disorder treatment services 

under the Medicare program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Seniors 

5 with Opioid Use Disorder Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASING AWARENESS AND DATA COLLECTION 

2 REGARDING MEDICARE COVERAGE OF 

3 OPIOID USE DISORDER TREATMENT SERV4 ICES. 

5 (a) REQUIRED OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall ad6 vance education and awareness among beneficiaries and 

7 health care providers regarding coverage of opioid use dis8 order treatment services furnished in person or via tele9 health under the Medicare program under title XVIII of 

10 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), including 

11 by revising outreach and enrollment materials as appro12 priate, making State and national contact information for 

13 health care providers publicly available in an easily acces14 sible manner, tailoring outreach to at risk or underserved 

15 beneficiaries as appropriate, and developing or improving 

16 continuing education programs that advance the education 

17 of providers on the prescribing of, and relevant clinical 

18 considerations with respect to, opioid medications and sub19 stance use disorder treatment programs. 

20 (b) REPORT AND EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

21 conduct an evaluation of the outreach conducted under 

22 subsection (a) not later than 18 months after initiating 

23 such activities and shall submit to Congress a report that 

24 provides an analysis of the effectiveness of outreach activi25 ties targeting beneficiaries who were previously not receiv26 ing opioid use disorder treatment services, including the 


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1 effect of such outreach on beneficiary access to care and 

2 utilization of services, in addition to the number of pro3 viders treating beneficiaries for opioid use disorder in of4 fice-based settings. 

5 (c) IMPROVING DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than 

6 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Administrator shall provide data to the Substance Abuse 

8 and Mental Health Services Administration on— 

9 (1) the number of Medicare beneficiaries diag10 nosed with opioid use disorder; 

11 (2) the number of beneficiaries who receive 

12 medication-assisted treatment under the Medicare 

13 program; 

14 (3) the number of beneficiaries who receive 

15 medication-assisted treatment under the Medicare 

16 program who also receive behavioral therapy; and 

17 (4) any geographic areas in which beneficiaries 

18 remain underserved with respect to the provision of 

19 opioid use disorder treatment services under the 

20 Medicare program. 

21 (d) STAKEHOLDER MEETING.—Not later than 18 

22 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary shall convene a meeting of stakeholders, includ24 ing practicing behavioral health providers, to share best 

25 practices on the utilization of behavioral therapy among 


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1 beneficiaries receiving medication to treat opioid use dis2 order under the Medicare program. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Centers for 

6 Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

7 (2) MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT.—The 

8 term ‘‘medication-assisted treatment’’ means an evi9 dence-based treatment that consists of the adminis10 tration of medications and related behavioral thera11 pies. 

12 (3) OPIOID TREATMENT PROGRAM.—The term 

13 ‘‘opioid treatment program’’ has the meaning given 

14 that term in paragraph (2) of section 1861(jjj) of 

15 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(jjj)). 

16 (4) OPIOID USE DISORDER TREATMENT SERV17 ICES.—The term ‘‘opioid use disorder treatment 

18 services’’ has the meaning given that term in para19 graph (1) of such section. 

20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

Æ 


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