BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP)–Governor Healey signed a substance use disorder bill on Monday aimed at reducing drug-related deaths in Massachusetts and providing residents the support they need to recover from addiction.
This bill has provisions that span from overdose response to long-term mental health support, including mandates for insurance companies to cover Narcan and recovery coaches, establishing licensure for recovery coaches, creating protection for harm reduction measures, and updating policies for infants affected by prenatal substance exposure.
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Western Massachusetts Senator John Velis is the chair of the Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery committee. He says this new law will save and change lives, and “bolsters access to life saving overdose reversal tools but also expands access to recovery coaches, vital providers who understand what it is like to navigate recovery because of their lived experiences.”
The Massachusetts public health commissioner says this bill acknowledges that addiction is not a moral failing and pushes back against stigma…