Support legislation to permanently authorize nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders.

Angus S. King, Jr. · Maine · Independent

policy impact 0.72 specificity 0.86 extraction confidence 92%

Commitment kind: unknown. Promised action: not established. Promised outcome: not established. Deadline: unknown; not assumed expired.

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Occurrences

I rise to support the bill, but also to suggest this small change that I think will dramatically increase the effectiveness of the treatment that the bill enables.

King backed the opioid treatment bill and urged that it be amended to permanently let nurse practitioners and physician assistants prescribe medication-assisted treatment.

On Senate Floor, King Speaks in Support of Expanding Base of Opioid Treatment Professionals
primary · speech · model gpt-5.4-mini

Evidence

legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown

King's Senate office said he voted for the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and identified a King-backed provision to permanently allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication-assisted treatment. It also said King cosponsored the Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act and advocated on the Senate floor for including this provision in the final package.

Unverified model/legacy excerpt; not proof. AI summary (separate from source): Shows concrete same-term support by King: cosponsorship, floor advocacy, and a yes vote on the final opioid bill containing the NP/PA MAT prescribing provision.

delivered same_term A for effort

Senate Passes Sweeping Opioid Bill With King-Backed Provisions
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 94%

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legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown

Public Law 115-271 was approved October 24, 2018. Section 3201, on medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders, eliminated the time limitation for nurse practitioners and physician assistants to become qualifying practitioners by amending 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2)(G) to include a qualifying other practitioner who is a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.

Unverified model/legacy excerpt; not proof. AI summary (separate from source): The final enacted law permanently removed the sunset on NP and PA eligibility to prescribe MAT for opioid use disorders, fulfilling the commitment during King's 2013-2019 Senate term.

delivered same_term A for effort

Public Law 115-271, SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 97%

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Assessments

Public state: unverified As of unknown · legacy_unverified · . Original AI recommendation (not independently established): delivered. same_term A for effort

Public Law 115-271 was enacted on October 24, 2018 and permanently removed the sunset for nurse practitioners and physician assistants to qualify to prescribe medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders. King was an incumbent senator during the 2018 federal Senate campaign, voted for the final SUPPORT Act, cosponsored related legislation, and advocated for inclusion of the provision, so the promised federal legislative outcome was delivered with attributable same-term candidate credit.

provider codex_cli · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 97%