On December 1, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the SUPPORT Act, a bill reinstating funding for addiction treatment that had expired without reauthorization in September 2023.

The Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act was passed in 2018 during President Trump’s first term. Here are some of the things the SUPPORT Act funds:

• The Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers grant program
• The Recovery Loan Repayment Program
• Funds for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment
• The SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Program

SAMHSA is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is responsible for administering these programs. However, SAMHSA was essentially disbanded and folded into the new Administration for a Healthy America (HAHA). It is unclear how HAHA will be able to roll out the SUPPORT Act with reduced staff and funding.

“These programs risk being reauthorized in name only if SAMHSA is not fully equipped to administer them,” said Dr. Stephen Taylor, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, in a statement about the SUPPORT Act reauthorization, adding:

Persistent Medicare coverage gaps and outdated prescribing restrictions on methadone for opioid use disorder (OUD) still make it challenging for addiction specialist physicians to deliver quality addiction care to Americans in need.

Bloomberg says the SUPPORT Act includes “a raft of services designed to combat drug addiction and address mental health, as well as initiatives to bolster research and repay loans for professionals treating substance abuse.” The publication notes that funding is subject to Congressional appropriation over the next five years.

In a summary of the legislation on POLITICO, global health reporter Carmen Paun says reauthorization of the SUPPORT Act means:

[B]illions of dollars in funding for states and tribes to fight opioid addiction and to provide first responders with the opioid reversal medication naloxone, among many other provisions. [The link added by AddictionNews]

Most of the funds go to states and tribes through grants for overdose prevention programs and addiction treatment programs. The Addiction Policy Forum summarizes, “The legislation improves access to medications for addiction treatment (MAT) [The link added by AddictionNews], expands treatment services provided through Medicare and Medicaid, ends patient brokering, and enhances law enforcement efforts.”

Many experts say the SUPPORT Act provides the framework for dealing with the opioid overdose problem, but only Congress, through appropriation, can ensure there is funding to fulfill the long wishlist the bill imagines.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published December 8, 2025.

Sources:

“Trump Signs Law to Unlock Billions for Drug Addiction Recovery,” Bloomberg, December 1, 2025.

“Trump Signs SUPPORT Act, Reviving SUD and Opioid Programs After 2023 Lapse,” Behavioral Health Business, December 2, 2025.

“Trump signs major opioid-fighting legislation,” POLITICO, December 1, 2025.

“Senate Passes the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025,” Addiction Policy Forum, December 1, 2025.

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