2026 is well upon us and our NAATP members are again at work delivering life-saving services. Some of NAATP’s members are new to the association and others have been with us from the beginning, 47 years ago. Whether recent or long-standing, NAATP members share a common bond, represent our country’s addiction treatment leadership, and distinguish themselves from ever-increasing, competitive, and even substandard and unethical treatment providers. NAATP exists to serve our members and to ensure that their quality and commitment are visible, recognized, and amplified to the consumer.
According to the SAMHSA locator, there are as many as 30,000 entities in the U.S. purporting to deliver treatment and recovery services. Most of these will never qualify for NAATP membership and the locator, while useful for some things, is an inadequate source of locating treatment for oneself or a loved one. It does not distinguish. The consumer needs a place to go and good providers need a place to belong. That place is NAATP.
NAATP members qualify for membership by satisfying licensing and accreditation standards together with strict compliance with the NAATP Code of Ethics which serves as the nation’s guidepost for values-based care. NAATP members commit to the Ethics Code and go so far as to agree to their removal from the Association for violations of the Code. Further, NAATP's Quality Assurance Guidebook serves as a defining source for the Core Competencies of Effective Treatment Operation.
Challenging times lie ahead for providers. Challenges lie in the areas of workforce transition, reimbursement rates, parity violations, technology and AI, clinical and pharmacological developments, industry consolidation, and outcomes measurement. Every single one of these areas is a NAATP focus and provides an opportunity for success when we come together as a professional community and define best practices in each. We, as treatment leaders have the collective wisdom and opportunity to determine what excellent treatment is and how to deliver it. We need not allow these practices to be defined by misguided interests.
In this regard we also face continued and ill-informed criticism suggesting that the field of treatment lacks quality and operates unethically when we know it is a minority of bad actors outside NAATP membership that engage in such practices. NAATP remains committed to standing strong, defending our members, and promoting best practices and values-based services.
As we move forward as an association, I want to thank you for your commitment to excellence and highlight two programs in particular that are essential to our success. The NAATP Foundation for Recovery Science and Education (FoRSE) leads the way in the essential work of tracking patient outcomes as is illustrated in the 2025 FoRSE Annual Summary. NAATP members alone are eligible to participate as FoRSE Data Sites as we grow a base of data demonstrating the efficacy of good treatment. Related to FoRSE outcomes tracking is measurement-based care that improves patient outcomes. These findings must ultimately correlate to increased and reliable reimbursement rates, and NAATP’s NAATP Transparency in Coverage (TIC) project is moving us in that direction. Phase 1 of the TIC project, completed in the fall of 2025, revealed payer rates from the BUCAS (BlueCross BlueShield, United Healthcare/Optum, Cigna, and Aetna/CVS), and all NAATP members now have access to the data. NAATP TIC Phase 2 is now underway and we are scheduled to dissect the data and produce jurisdictional benchmark reports later this year.
We thank you for your membership and we look forward to our work together. It is a source of pride and distinction when the NAATP Seal appears in your materials and online presence.
We look forward to coming together for NAATP National 2026 in May. See you there.
