Senate committee moves to ease rules for opioid treatment programs to expand access

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee on March 11 reported SB 26 favorable, a bill that would remove Louisiana's facility needs-review (certificate of need) requirement for establishing opioid treatment programs that provide methadone and other medication‑based treatments for opioid use disorder.

Sponsor and witnesses said the state-level review exceeds federal requirements and creates an unnecessary barrier to care. Andrew Whitaker, a senior officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, told the committee that "the state determination of need of facility needs review is not required by federal law" and that the regulation is a significant impediment to opening new treatment facilities. Whitaker said Louisiana has 11 OTPs and only one has opened since 2015, while states of comparable size have many more OTPs (he cited 45 in Kentucky and 30 in Oklahoma as examples from his written testimony).

Committee members framed the bill as a way to address an access problem. The chair noted Louisiana ranks among states with high overdose death rates and that removing regulatory barriers could increase providers and daily‑access points for patients who often must travel long distances to receive daily doses. The committee discussed collaborating with advocacy and research organizations and agreed the bill would help expand treatment availability.

Senator Luno moved to report SB 26 favorable; the motion was adopted by voice consent and the bill was reported to the Senate calendar.