National Advocacy
2025 Advocacy Impact Report
Resilient advocacy to advance addiction recovery
ASAM continues to fight for policies that support you – the addiction medicine clinician – as you treat addiction and save lives.
The provides a snapshot of ASAM’s advocacy efforts to strengthen America’s addiction treatment infrastructure and expand patient access to evidence-based care.
2025 Advocacy Highlights
Successfully advocated for the passage of The SUPPORT For Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, which contained several important provisions to strengthen addiction treatment, including:
- Reauthorization of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program (STAR-LRP)
- Reauthorization of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers grant program
- Expansion of SAMHSA’s Minority Fellowship Program to include physicians who specialize in addiction medicine
Secured for buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD)
Fought to mitigate the harms of H.R. 1 on Medicaid expansion patients living with substance use disorder
- ASAM advocated to ensure that individuals with SUD are exempt from onerous work reporting requirements and that SUD services are exempt from new cost-sharing mandates for Medicaid expansion beneficiaries.
- In 2026, ASAM is committed to advocating for appropriate implementation of these SUD exemptions to mitigate harms to the Medicaid expansion population.
Advocacy by the Numbers
- 149 ASAM member meetings with Congressional offices
- Nearly 100 addiction medicine experts advocated on Capitol Hill
- 19 coalition letters sent to Congressional and regulatory leaders that called for policy reforms to improve and strengthen addiction care
- 6 new Policy Rounds, ASAM's educational briefs on timely issues in addiction policy
- 3 new policy statements on key addiction policy topics:
- 6 state bills promoting addiction prevention and treatment efforts signed into law with the support of ASAM State Chapters