Boost Adoption of Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments

ASAM advocates for policies that encourage the uptake of evidence-based psychosocial treatments to improve the lives of people living with addiction. This includes: 

• Contingency management (CM), an intervention in which a patient is given a reward to reinforce positive behaviors associated with addiction treatment or participation. Extensive research shows that CM is the most effective treatment option for stimulant use disorders and represents the current standard of care. 
  • ASAM successfully advocated for an increase in the previous $75 ‘cap’ in certain federal grant programs on incentives per patient per budget year, an amount that is not supported by research and may render CM interventions ineffective. In January 2025, ASAM applauded SAMHSA’s decision to increase the cap to $750.  
• Adopting integrated delivery care models, such as the Primary Care Behavioral Health Model and Collaborative Care Model, which allow for coordinated care between primary care and behavioral health professionals.  
  • ASAM has called for the passage of the COMPLETE Care Act which would encourage adoption of integrated delivery care models by providing technical assistance to practices and temporarily increasing reimbursement rates for integrated care codes. Ultimately, this would make behavioral health more accessible to people living with addiction.  

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Champion Smart Drug Policy Reforms

Tobacco

ASAM advocates for policies to prevent the use of tobacco products and expand access to treatments for tobacco use disorder. This includes maintaining tobacco fees and eliminating flavored cigars. 

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Support Integration of Useful Technologies in Addiction Care

ASAM supports the use of technology to increase access to addiction treatment, including investments to expand the use of electronic health records (EHRs), the development of digital health technologies, the use of remote patient monitoring, and regulatory guardrails to protect patient privacy and the patient-clinician relationship. Such technologies are poised to improve efficiencies in care delivery and expand addiction treatment access to those in rural and remote regions of the country. 

As part of this effort, in 2024 ASAM welcomed a final rule promoting partial alignment between 42 CFR Part 2 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) while maintaining critical privacy protections.

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Advance Addiction Medicine Research & Development

An unpredictable and ever-changing illicit drug market has made it clear that more tools are needed to combat the overdose crisis and address the prevalence of addiction involving opioids or other substance use. Unfortunately, there has been a concerning lack of research and development within the addiction space when compared to other chronic medical conditions.