New Maine law designed to take away opioid treatment barrier

A new law in Maine exempts the need for prior authorization for medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder under MaineCare.

The law is designed to mirror legislation from a previous legislative session that reduced the prior authorization process for private health insurance carriers, the Maine House Democratic Office said.

Those changes took away the requirement for prior authorization for opioid use disorder treatment under private insurance, and now the same is true under MaineCare, Democrats said.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the change into law on March 18. Democratic Rep. Holly Stover of Boothbay proposed the change. The new law goes into effect on June 16.

Maine overdose deaths reached a record high level in 2017 with 417, and have remained high since. Stover said residents battling opioid use disorder “deserve immediate access to needed medications just as much as anyone.”