ASAM Letter To Congress Regarding Proposed Changes To The Affordable Care Act.

On Monday, March 6th, Republican leadership introduced the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The AHCA is Republican’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) is very concerned that the AHCA’s proposed changes to our health care system will result in reductions in health care coverage, particularly for vulnerable populations including those suffering from the chronic disease of addiction, and we cannot support this bill in its current form.

More than 20 million Americans currently have health care coverage due to the ACA, including millions of Americans with addiction. The ACA expanded Medicaid, required health plans to cover essential health benefits such as addiction treatment, and mandated plans to treat mental health services at parity with medical and surgical services. This coverage is a critical lifeline for people with addiction, many of whom were unable to access treatment before the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid, and has reduced the burden of the opioid epidemic and saved lives. 

The AHCA will roll back these important provisions and will certainly reduce access addiction treatment and reverse much or all progress made on the opioid crisis last year.

The AHCA passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee and is being considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.