AMA chairwoman urges insurers to expand coverage for opioid addiction

Patrice A. Harris, MD, chairwoman of the American Medical Association, writes in a letter to the editor of the Hartford (CT) Courant (8/1) that the AMA concurs “with Aetna medical officer Dr. Mark Friedlander that we need to increase access to medication-assisted treatment for patients with substance use disorders.”

She says the AMA is also urging “Aetna, Cigna and all other payers in Connecticut to remove barriers to evidence-based care, including limits on physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric care and other multimodal therapies that may be appropriate.”

Harris adds that in order to effectively combat the opioid epidemic, “physicians must continue to play an active role in treating our patients using evidence-based care, and that also means insurance policies must provide our patients with the benefits, coverage and access necessary for that care.”

Related Links:

— “AMA: Insurers Must Broaden Opioid Addiction Coverage,” Patrice A. Harris, M.D., , August 1, 2016.

Posted in In The News.