TREATS Act
Introduced Feb 26, 2025 by Rep. Donald Norcross
It's waiting on a committee vote to reach the full chamber. Most bills never leave this stage.
This bill permanently allows health care practitioners to prescribe certain controlled substances for treating substance use disorders via telehealth without evaluating the patient in person.
Generally, a health care practitioner may not prescribe a controlled substance via telehealth unless they first conduct an in-person medical evaluation. Federal regulations currently provide a temporary exception to this requirement, allowing practitioners to prescribe schedule II-V controlled substances for legitimate medical purposes (such as treating substance use disorders) via telehealth without an in-person evaluation. However, this temporary regulatory flexibility expires on December 31, 2025.
The bill permanently allows practitioners to prescribe schedule III-V controlled substances for the treatment of a substance use disorder via telehealth without conducting an in-person evaluation. In such instances, a practitioner may conduct a telehealth evaluation using audio-only or audio and video equipment.
Summary by the Congressional Research Service.
No floor votes yet — it hasn't reached the floor of either chamber.