Madden bill to expand jail access to opioid addiction treatment medication clears committee with unanimous bipartisan support
Rep. Maureen E. Madden April 9, 2025 | 4:09 PM
HARRISBURG, April 9 – Legislation that would expand a successful but limited grant program that is proven to save lives was reported out of the House Human Services Committee, according to the bill’s author state Rep. Maureen Madden.
The Monroe County Democrat authored H.B. 561, which would expand the Non-Narcotic Medication Assisted Substance Abuse Treatment Grant Program to include all FDA-approved medications for the treatment of substance use disorder, commonly known as medication-assisted treatment or MAT.
The program, which was created under Act 80 in 2015, allows county jails to access only naltrexone, otherwise known as Vivitrol, to incarcerated individuals experiencing a substance use disorder. Madden’s legislation would allow Pennsylvania’s county jails to access all forms of FDA-approved medications that may be even more effective in successfully treating SUD.
“My bill would open the grant program so that county jails could have greater flexibility in terms of medication options for people who are overcoming addiction while incarcerated and before release. Advancements in science have led to other medications that work to effectively and humanely allow people to detox and begin recovery without going through the painful withdrawal that is often associated with other opioid medications like methadone,” Madden said.
According to a 2021 report from the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, 14 Pennsylvanians die every day from an overdose, with that number expected to rise each year.
In the U.S. prison population, roughly 65% of inmates have an active substance use disorder. However, barely 1% of prisons and jails across the country offer a Medication for Opioid Use Disorder program. The leading cause of death for people released from prison or jail is fatal drug overdose, yet research shows that inmates who receive MOUD are 75% less likely to die from an overdose.
Madden said the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which administers the grant funding, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania support expanding the program.
A similar bill offered by Madden last session passed the House, but it received no further action by the state Senate.