On June 16th, the Michigan Society of Addiction Medicine (MISAM) sent a letter in support of HB 4707 to the House Committee on Insurance and Financial Services. This legislation would require that insurance plans cover a full continuum of services for mental health and substance use disorder (SUD), without prior authorization.

In the letter, MISAM emphasized the importance of expanding access to evidence-based treatment for SUD. Estimates indicate that only about 6% of the 46.3 million people over the age of 12 years old receive treatment for SUD. As such, MISAM encouraged lawmakers to take meaningful steps to remove barriers inhibiting access to care. Additionally, MISAM articulated the harm that prior authorization and other utilization review policies can have on patients. By prohibiting prior authorization if a patient qualifies for SUD treatment according to generally accepted standards of care, MISAM praised HB 4707 as a positive step forward to expand access to care in Michigan.

Read the letter.