Senior Addiction Treatment Bill Faces Long Odds in Congress
Behavioral Health Business reports that the reintroduced "Residential Recovery for Seniors Act" would allow Medicare Part A to cover non-hospital residential addiction treatment for beneficiaries 65 and older, a benefit Medicare has excluded throughout its history even as Medicaid recipients have gained broader access. Roughly 1 in 15 adults over 65 had a substance use disorder in the past year, and seniors accounted for 8,195 overdose deaths in 2024, yet fewer than one in five Medicare enrollees with opioid use disorder receive medication treatment. ASAM president Dr. Stephen Taylor and behavioral health providers interviewed say the bill has bipartisan support but faces an uphill fight due to inertia around changing Medicare and limited advocacy momentum. Providers warn that without the fix, seniors will continue cycling through costly hospitalizations or inadequate lower-tier care.