AHCA/NCAL recently
submitted comments in response to a
Proposed Rule issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on January 17, 2025, titled
Special Registrations for Telemedicine and Limited State Telemedicine Registrations. The DEA proposed rule would establish telehealth registration requirements for tele-prescribing of controlled substances for conditions, such as mental health and substance abuse disorders to comply with the
Ryan Haight Act of 2008.
AHCA/NCAL opposes the proposed rule as described and requested that the DEA rescind the proposal, Instead, the DEA should collaborate with impacted stakeholders and Congress to identify a better approach that best assures optimal patient access to virtual prescribing of needed medications in a timely manner, while mitigating risks of diversion of such regulated medications from the intended patient for the intended purpose.
Additional Detail
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, and since then, Congress, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the DEA have waived certain tele-prescribing restrictions for medications subject to the Ryan Haight Act provisions, which have benefited residents in SNF, AL, and ID/DD communities. The current waivers expire at the end of December 2025. The proposed rule would establish a statutorily permitted “registration process” for physician and mental health professionals to be able to continue such tele-prescribing via a virtual visit permanently while installing guardrails to prevent drug diversion.
In the
detailed comments, AHCA/NCAL echoed concerns voiced by organizations representing physician, mental health professionals, telehealth providers, and pharmacies that the proposed requirements are much more complex and burdensome that is necessary to reduce the risk of drug diversion, but would instead negatively impact patient access to needed care severely. This would result in poorer health outcomes and increased health care costs overall.