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A coalition of national organizations representing physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals on the frontlines of America’s addiction and overdose crisis are offering revisions to H.R. 5629 to promote safety, integrated care, affordability, patient choice, and provider diversification.

The suggested revisions are included in a new letter sent to Representative Erin Houchin (IN-9), the sponsor of H.R. 5629. This bill would largely nullify the 2024 Final Rule of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), titled “Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder,” consequently reversing several key flexibilities for methadone treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), some of which were originally introduced during the first Trump administration.

If enacted in its current form, the groups write that “the bill would result in more opioid overdoses, because fewer people would get methadone treatment for OUD, with no improvement in safety for our communities.”

Drawing on a shared commitment to improving public safety and preventing and treating OUD, the groups are calling for a collaborative effort to revise the bill to expand, not decrease, access to evidence-based care. Specifically, the letter calls for changes that will empower states to serve their unique populations with safe and effective treatment models that include methadone as one evidence-based option for OUD treatment.