Here are three things to know about Hillary Clinton’s “Initiative to Combat America’s Deadly Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Addiction.”
1. The money: According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the federal government spends approximately $200 billion to $300 billion each decade to fight drugs. Ms. Clinton’s plan would add $10 billion in funding over the next 10 years, of which $7.5 billion would go to states to back their own plans to decrease drug abuse. The remaining $2.5 billion would be distributed directly to federally funded drug abuse prevention and treatment programs.
2. The states: Policy programs Ms. Clinton would encourage states to pursue include:
• Investing in peer mentorship, after-school activities, community service initiatives and other programs geared toward drug abuse prevention
• Taking steps to bolster treatment and recovery infrastructure by funding facilities like community behavioral health centers
• Assisting police, fire departments and EMTS by providing these public servants with additional funds to obtain the opioid overdose antidote naloxone
• Encouraging prescribers to use state drug monitoring program to track opioid prescriptions
• Investing in programs that work to send appropriate individuals suffering from drug addiction into treatment facilities instead of jail cells
3. The feds: Immediate federal actions to be initiated under Ms. Clinton’s plan include:
• Enhancing access to medications designed to treat opioid addiction by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe the medications
• Confirming insurers are complying with federal law on insurance parity for those with mental health issues like drug addiction
• Identifying best practices for covering substance abuse disorders via both Medicaid and private insurance
• Encouraging better prescriber practices in Medicare and the Veterans Administration
• Imploring the Attorney General to deliver guidance for the prioritization of treatment over incarceration for nonviolent and low-level federal drug offenders
More articles on population health:
CSU launches center to address children’s trauma
Study: Opioid abuse hinders caregiver ability to perceive baby ‘cuteness’
Head of DEA says jailing drug abusers won’t solve opioid epidemic
