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Obama Pitches $1.1 Billion to Fight Opioid, Heroin Addiction

— President's budget includes mandatory funding to get people into treatment

Last Updated February 3, 2016
MedpageToday

WASHINGTON -- The White House pledged $1.1 billion to target the opioid and heroin addiction epidemic, mainly by closing the treatment gap, according to a press release.

Only about half of the 2.2 million U.S. residents who need treatment for opioid addiction are currently receiving it, said , secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during a press call on Tuesday.

"This budget provides $450 million more than our current funding for a new 2-year mandatory investment to evidence-based interventions that target those primary barriers individuals face to their seeking treatment and achieving recovery," she said.

Burwell noted that these new monies, part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget, would also support healthcare providers in making safe prescribing decisions by bolstering state-based prescription drug monitoring programs.

In the FY 2016 budget, President Obama designated more than $400 million to respond to the opioid abuse epidemic -- an increase of $100 million over his FY 2015 budget. The HHS budget saw an increase from $34 million to $127 million in discretionary funding from FY 2015 to FY 2016.

If Congress commits to this new proposal, approximately $1 billion in mandatory funding from the FY 2017 budget would go towards increasing access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use including:

  • $920 million for cooperative agreements with states to increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders over a 2-year period
  • $50 million towards the (NHSC) to increase access to providers who treat these disorder
  • $30 million to assess how effective treatment program are in delivering medication assisted therapy "under real-world conditions"

According to the White House, "states will receive funds based on the severity of the epidemic and on the strength of their strategy to respond to it." And the $50 million directed to the NHSC would enable roughly 700 providers to offer substance use disorder treatment services in areas with poor access to behavioral health providers.

In addition, the proposal would include $500 million to expand prescription drug overdose prevention efforts, beyond the current work being done by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and HHS, by expanding access to the opioid antagonist naloxone hydrochloride (Narcan), broadening the availability of medication-assisted treatment, and bolstering "targeted enforcement activities," .

The administration will also establish a demonstration project to enable nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants to prescribe in states where it is legal to do so.

director of National Drug Control Policy, who participated in the press call, said the "approach, when fully funded, will move our nation forward in preventing drug use, reducing overdose deaths, and supporting the millions of Americans in recovery."

Asked whether there was bipartisan support for such an effort, Botticelli said that he's seen strong support for fighting the opioid addiction epidemic from all congressional leaders.

"There is a significant interest in helping to deal with this issue and [members of Congress] know that resources are part of the equation," he said.

Burwell called this a "common ground issue. This is about the needs in their community and making progress on problems that are front and center ... I think that it is about the budget process being a process, and one that reflects the needs and demands of the country at a particular moment in time."

Burwell also announced that the HHS budget, when it will deliver next week, will include Medicaid guidance to states based on best practices for addressing the opioid addiction epidemic, such as using pharmacy benefit managers to monitor opioid prescribing, including medication-assisted treatment and naloxone use.

Medicaid programs are regulated by individual states, and HHS cannot implement such changes itself, Burwell noted. "By providing the guidelines, we'll be providing the tools for many of the states to take the actions to help both medication-assisted treatment prescribing practices, that will hopefully reduce overprescribing, and getting that access to naloxone."