Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Admin To Give $1.5B To States, Tribes To Help Fight Opioid Crisis
The Hill: Biden Announces $1.5B In Funding To Battle Opioid Overdoses, Support Recovery
President Biden on Friday announced that his administration would distribute $1.5 billion to states and territories, including tribal lands, to fund responses to opioid overdoses and support recovery. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will disseminate the funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) State Opioid Response and Tribal Opioid Response grant programs as part of National Recovery Month. (Folmar, 9/23)
More on the opioid crisis —
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin, Tribes To Receive Nearly $19 Million To Combat Opioids
Wisconsin will receive more than $16 million in federal grant money to help people struggling with substance abuse and further address the opioid epidemic, the White House announced Friday. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is expected to receive $16.9 million as part of the $1.5 billion package of grants to states and tribal communities. Six of the state's tribal nations will receive about $1.8 million of their own to combat the crisis. (Andrea, 9/23)
AP: Advocates Seek More Say In How Opioid Settlements Are Spent
Across the U.S., people in recovery and families of those who died from overdoses fear they won’t be heard on the state-level panels recommending or deciding on the use of big pieces of proposed and finalized settlements, which are worth more than $40 billion, according to an Associated Press tally. ... For the people on a mission to stem drug deaths, the details matter. Advocates want to see the money used to make it easier to get treatment, to provide related housing, transportation and other services, and to provide materials to test drug supplies for fentanyl, the synthetic opioid involved in most recent fatal overdoses. (Mulvihill and Hendrickson, 9/23)
Anchorage Daily News: How Should Alaska Use $58.5 Million In Opioid Settlement Funds? The State’s Seeking Suggestions
Through the end of September, Alaskans are able to provide input on how the state should use over $58 million in funds allotted through opioid company settlements. The funds make up Alaska’s portion of a $26 billion settlement in lawsuits that found multiple drug manufacturers and distributors partially responsible for the opioid epidemic of the past 30 years. (Berman, 9/25)
Also —
Axios: Drug Treatment Center Admissions Fell 23% During COVID
Admissions to drug treatment facilities fell by more than 23% during the pandemic as substance use disorders and overdose deaths rose, a new analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows. (Bettelheim, 9/23)
AP: After Rocky Start, Hopes Up In Oregon Drug Decriminalization
Two years after Oregon residents voted to decriminalize hard drugs and dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to treatment, few people have requested the services and the state has been slow to channel the funds. When voters passed the state’s pioneering Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act in 2020, the emphasis was on treatment as much as on decriminalizing possession of personal-use amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs. (Selsky, 9/25)
