Advocates say new DHHS draft rules could close Maine drug treatment clinics

AUGUSTA — Proposed changes to state rules for how methadone and Suboxone clinics serve Medicaid recipients threaten to drive some of those clinics out of business in the midst of an unprecedented addiction crisis in Maine, advocates for medication-assisted treatment testified Monday.

The draft rules, proposed recently by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, would introduce new requirements for medication-assisted treatment facilities that disburse methadone and Suboxone, medications that are used to help people with opioid addictions kick their habits.

The proposed rules, which would have to be approved by the federal government, include new paperwork requirements, new requirements for medical directors at the clinics and new dosage limits, among other elements. The rules come on the heels of the state lowering Medicaid reimbursement rates for methadone clinics from $72 per patient per week to $60 per patient per week in 2012.

“As methadone providers look at this rule, we appreciate the underlying intent that is aimed at the quality of the services provided,” Jim Cohen, a lobbyist who represents methadone providers, said. “These rules could exacerbate the crisis. (That risk) is not a small one because providers are operating on the edge of financial viability today.”

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