The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has issued the notice below and the letter here: NYSDOH Letter on MAT Act on the interplay between its regulations and the new federal Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act.
Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act
Updated January 2023
The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act was signed into federal law and became effective on December 29, 2022. Important changes resulting from the MAT Act include the:
- Elimination of the requirement for a special registration through the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (commonly referred to as an X-waiver) to prescribe or dispense buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).
- Elimination of the limitations on the number of patients a practitioner was permitted to treat with buprenorphine for OUD.
A practitioner holding a standard DEA registration may now prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD, without limitation to the number of patients. Nothing in NYSDOH regulations at 10 NYCRR §80.84 should be interpreted to contradict these changes. To read the NYSDOH letter explaining how its regulations intersect with the federal MAT Act, use the link below.
Letter from the NYS Commissioner of Health to practitioners and pharmacists regarding the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (PDF)
In addition, the ADA successfully advocated for Congress to amend certain provisions of the MATE Act to comport with ADA policy. This included prompting lawmakers to remove a requirement from the original bill that meant dentists would have to complete three hours of specialized training to safely prescribe buprenorphine, which is outside the scope of dental practice.
The MATE Act was also amended to allow:
• Dentists to apply continuing education credits accepted for state licensure towards their federally required training, as well as courses taken through ADA CERP providers.
• New dentists who are less than five years out of dental school to use their dental school courses towards the federally required training.