Drug czar concerned for opioid treatment if ACA is repealed (WBALTV 11)

Wednesday Jan 18th, 2017

The nation's outgoing drug czar fears more people will die because they can't afford opioid treatment if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

 

Michael Botticelli visited Baltimore on Tuesday to talk about the Obama administration's efforts on the opioid epidemic and how a looming repeal of the Affordable Care Act could impact treatment.

The recent explosion in heroin addiction and death across the United States has happened under Botticelli's leadership. He spent Tuesday in Baltimore, where, in 2016, opioid overdose deaths outnumbered homicides.

"I think, quite honestly, we have tried to respond to the evolving nature of this epidemic at every step along the way," Botticelli said.

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