On June 5, the Partnership to Amend 42 CFR Part 2 (of which ASAM is a member) sent a letter urging Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), to add a provision to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 that would align 42 CFR Part 2 with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for purposes of treatment, payment, and operations (TPO) as the Committee prepared to mark up the bill.

In the letter, the Partnership observed that requiring written consent prior to the disclosure of a patient’s substance use disorder (SUD) record creates barriers to coordinated care, decreases patient safety, and presents a clinical burden for clinicians. The letter concluded by noting that due to the complex nature of SUD, the current outdated rule poses a serious safety threat to persons with SUDs due to risks from multiple drug interactions and co-existing medical problems. 

Read the letter here.