NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James joined 37 other state attorneys general in their call for Congress to remove federal barriers to addiction treatment.

The measures are largely aimed at the ongoing opioid epidemic and would allow greater access to medication assisted treatment (MAT), which relies on medication as well as counseling and behavioral therapies to treat opioid addiction.

In a letter sent Monday, the coalition of elected officials asked Congress to eliminate requirements that prevent doctors from prescribing MAT, replace outdated medical privacy rules, and repeal a rule that bars Medicaid from covering certain forms of treatment.

"Opioids are devastating communities across the country, and we have a duty to do all we can to protect Americans from this epidemic," James said. "New York has filed the nation's most extensive lawsuit against the makers and distributors of opioids, we've taken drug dealers off the streets, and now we are ensuring that impacted individuals can access the treatment they need. This crisis demands action from every angle and that is exactly what we are doing."

Congress is currently considering several pieces of legislation that would boost access to treatment, the coalition noted.

One would remove strict confidentiality rules that currently govern the release of medical records involving addiction. The rules, contained within what's shorthanded as "42 CFR Part 2," are more strict than those governing most patient records due to the stigma associated with addiction, the coalition contends.

Providers, however, only have to follow the more strict rules if they advertise MAT services.

"So, in an era when we are trying to promote access to MAT, we are encouraging office-based MAT providers to keep secret the fact that they provide this lifesaving service so they can avoid the cumbersome 42 CFR Part 2 rules," the letter states.

The coalition is also urging passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, which would eliminate a special waiver that health care providers must obtain in order to prescribe drugs that treat addiction. No such barrier exists for any other medication, including the opioid medications that caused the addiction in the first place, the coalition notes.

"Outdated and unnecessary federal requirements are discouraging doctors from prescribing this life-saving drug to patients who need it," they said.

Finally, they're asking Congress to repeal the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases exclusion, which generally bars state Medicaid programs from receiving federal reimbursement for adults age 21 to 65 receiving mental health or substance use disorder treatment in a residential treatment facility with more than 16 beds.