In 2018, California established a program called CA Bridge to expand medication for addiction treatment in emergency departments. The state-funded program has been adopted by nearly 300 California hospitals.
In a statement, CA Bridge and the Public Health Institute recognized the promise of AB 2376, recently signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which makes it easier for hospitals to use available beds to provide chemical dependency recovery services, including evidence-based medication for addiction treatment. The statement is attributed to Aimee Moulin, M.D., at the Bridge Center, Public Health Institute, and Matthew Marsom, chief program, policy and government relations officer, Public Health Institute.
California has led the nation by investing in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. Despite the heroic work done throughout the state, 11,000 Californians per year die from a drug overdose, according to Moulin and Marsom. “Addiction is a chronic disease exacerbated by many factors, but these deaths are primarily driven by ineffective response to both legal and illicit opioid supply and by systemic barriers to accessing addiction treatment. CA Bridge has implemented MAT [medication-assisted treatment] programs in 276 hospitals in California, and more than 110,000 Californians have accepted buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder when it was offered in the emergency setting in a non-stigmatizing manner,” they wrote.
When addiction is an emergency, emergency departments can respond, Moulin and Marsom note. “But after the ED, patients need somewhere to land. That’s where AB 2376 comes in. This bill acknowledges that hospitals offering chemical dependency recovery services can help. Chemical dependency recovery services give patients compassionate space and time to enter addiction treatment directly after an ED visit.
“Right now, there are only about 10 licensed chemical dependency recovery (CDR) hospitals in California, which is woefully inadequate to treat the 1.1 million Californians who visit an ED for an SUD every year,” they noted. “This bill will allow hospitals to use available beds to offer patients CDR services. It’s quite simple—if a hospital has a bed, and a patient needs a bed to begin treatment, the hospital should be able to accommodate the patient. AB 2376 gets us closer to this goal.”
The bill was sponsored by Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, M.D., a primary care physician who issued this statement: “As a physician and addiction specialist, I know that the addiction crisis facing our state requires mobilizing resources at every level, but bureaucratic red tape has prevented hospitals from offering more recovery services. This change in law, combined with some of the fentanyl task force funding I brought to Kern County, will help combat our ongoing fentanyl crisis.”
AB 2376 streamlines regulatory requirements, enabling additional healthcare facilities to accept more patients for addiction and substance use disorder treatments. Previously, the law restricted the types of facilities that can offer care, including a requirement to segregate substance abuse disorder patients despite posing no risk of contagion, according to Bains’ website.
In a letter of support, the California Academy of Family Physicians wrote, “AB 2376 will support patients in entering treatment in a non-stigmatizing manner from the hospital rather than forcing them to leave the hospital to wait to enter treatment. Many patients who present to the hospital needing treatment are unhoused, have unstable housing, or need extra time in a safe place until a treatment bed becomes available in their community. This bill will make it easier for hospitals to support patients in entering treatment without experiencing a gap that would threaten their ability to enter and succeed in treatment. This is imperative for ensuring continuity of care for patients.”
A policy brief from health policy consultant California Health Policy Strategies (CHPS) found that overdoses disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, and only 10% of Californians with an addiction receive treatment. Since 2017, deaths have risen among teenagers (15 to 19) by 370% and Black and Latinx Californians by 200%.
“This bill makes common sense changes that support proven and cost-effective solutions that allow more patients to access addiction recovery services close to home. I believe these services should be available in every emergency room throughout the state,” added Bains.
