Governors Hunt for More Funding to Fight Opioid Addiction (CQ Roll Call)

Tuesday Mar 13th, 2018

Governors who are anxiously awaiting funding to fight opioid addiction are eyeing $6 billion set aside in the two-year budget deal (PL 115-123) for the epidemic that has yet to be appropriated or divvied up between federal agencies and the states.

“Since the president declared a state of emergency around opioids, we have not seen a tangible effect for those on the ground around the epidemic,” said Leana Wen, the commissioner of health for the city of Baltimore, who said she contacted a number of government officials about this problem.

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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