To continue combating the opioid epidemic, we need to prioritize expanding access to clinically-proven, life-saving care. Over the past five years, we’ve started to see the impact we can have when we do this, but the opioid crisis can’t wait. We need to continue investing in the future of America’s opioid care infrastructure.

We’ve laid a powerful foundation since 2020.

We fought to end X-Waiver requirements, which arbitrarily limited which clinicians could prescribe life-saving OUD treatment medications like buprenorphine. We’ve increased access to high-quality, flexible telehealth treatment providers, which have started to address deep-seated access-to-care gaps, especially in rural and underserved communities lacking traditional in-person OUD care options. We’ve fought against regulations that would further limit virtual prescribing of medications for OUD care.

But Medicaid cuts threaten this progress.

With millions of Americans facing loss of coverage options, the echoes of these cuts will be felt across the entire healthcare ecosystem. For Americans struggling with opioid misuse, losing access to their current care or shuttering programs reliant on federal funding is particularly devastating. The potential impacts if we don’t shore up the access we’ve fought so hard to expand cannot be taken lightly.

Increased risks of relapse and overdose. More emergency department visits. Higher costs and burdens on our fragmented healthcare ecosystem. Recidivism for OUD patients trying to maintain recovery after incarceration.

We should know; we live this fight every day. One of us, Ryan, has spent nearly a decade working as an advocate while on his own long-term recovery journey. The other, Ankit, has spent the past 7 years building the country’s leading and largest virtual OUD treatment provider, helping thousands of Americans like Ryan start and maintain recovery.

Together, we both have hope that––despite Medicaid cuts and lingering stigmas against those struggling with opioid use––we are at a turning point in our fight against this deadly epidemic. For the first time since 2020, we’ve seen year-over-year overdose-related deaths decline. It’s no coincidence this comes at a time when we’ve made massive investments in harm reduction access and education nationwide and made the gold standard of OUD care available to thousands of Americans via the phone in their pocket.

Now is the time to double down on our investment in innovation––regardless of where federal funding stands. Here’s how.

First and foremost, we must stop viewing tech as a luxury. For OUD patients, it’s an essential lifeline. A tool that the entire healthcare ecosystem must be prepared to harness fully to address gaps in care that have led to far too many relapses, overdoses, and deaths.

To truly innovate, we must first embed technology access directly into the physical spaces where people with OUD could enter the recovery pipeline. This means brick-and-mortar opioid treatment settings (recovery community organizations, jails, homeless shelters, and more) need to make technology such as iPads or other virtual connectivity devices table-stakes. Seems simple, but we’re still lagging behind––missing out on a huge opportunity to help people get diagnosed and treated on-demand while bypassing traditional barriers to access.

Care coordination technologies that leverage AI can also break down patient access barriers by instantly finding a local pharmacy that has life-saving treatment prescriptions available. For people struggling with opioid misuse, this is often a critical first step to make recovery a reality. And while it’s possible today, it hasn’t become the industry standard.

Technologies like AI could have a huge impact on the healthcare industry at large, helping to streamline operations and cut costs. But those in the private and nonprofit sectors that share our vision of ending the opioid epidemic need to also see these emerging technologies for what they enable our providers and patients to accomplish. With investments in technology, addiction medicine specialists can do more with less: see more patients; have a bigger impact; reach across city, state, and county lines. And their patients can, in turn, access care whenever and wherever they need it. But to get to that reality, patient-centered, on-demand, and embedded technology has to be a priority.

If innovative technology is one side of the coin for reducing unnecessary friction for patients looking for treatment, then innovative collaboration is the other.

Relying on federal funds is no longer sustainable for nonprofits and community providers, shifting private sector collaboration from “nice-to-have” to a necessity for continued operation and expansion. Luckily, there are unique opportunities for large healthcare organizations and technology innovators in the addiction treatment space. Social responsibility aside, the long-term cost savings that could stem from healthier communities, reduced emergency department visits, and lessened burdens on our fragmented healthcare ecosystem mean a very real return-on-investment for the private sector.

We’ve seen the impact private-public sector collaborations can have for adults in custody who are re-entering society. Telehealth programs can help them seamlessly continue (and even deepen involvement with) the treatment they receive as they go from custody back to community. We can do this same thing at an even larger scale as long as private sector leaders remain committed to forging strategic partnerships across the entire OUD care journey.

Being there at the very moment someone is ready to start their recovery is often the first step in the journey. Rural communities and high-risk patient populations have traditionally struggled due to a lack of local addiction medicine providers. The reason telehealth has made such an impact for OUD patients is that it can embed high-quality, flexible care directly into communities and existing care systems, reaching people at the moment they need it most. We need to continue prioritizing programs and investments that deepen that access.

Ultimately, if we want to succeed in ending the opioid epidemic, access to care for Americans with OUD should not be dependent on one single source of funding––from the federal government or otherwise. This is a moment that demands creativity, coordination, and commitment from tech and clinical innovators, local and state governments, private healthcare leaders, and advocacy organizations.

Why? Because recovery cannot pause just because funding does. Millions of Americans need our help. Luckily, there is a path for us to take to help them achieve and maintain recovery. We just have to continue to put our foot on the gas to get there.