Substance abuse treatment centers are anticipating a crushing wave of new demand amid the corona virus pandemic and unfolding economic crisis, which is likely to trigger relapses and overdoses among patients struggling to recover from the opioid epidemic. Yet only a small portion of the $175 billion in federal emergency funding, approved by Congress for hospitals and healthcare facilities during the pandemic, will be allocated to drug treatment centers that are also facing severe financial difficulties.
These behavioral health centers, which serve nearly half a million people struggling with substance abuse, provide FDA-approved medication-assisted treatment (MAT). But they are not eligible for a bigger slice of funding due to a technicality: the money is earmarked for Medicare providers in 2019, but treatment providers weren’t eligible for Medicare payments until recently. While Medicaid is the biggest payer of addiction services, treatment is also provided through Medicare. It’s time for Congress to correct this situation and ensure that drug treatment centers are well funded and fully operational as the pandemic exacerbates the opioid epidemic and more patients require services.
And finally, an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle notes that as San Francisco-based e-cigarette maker Juul prepares to quit the city and move to Washington, D.C., it’s a good time for parents to speak to kids about quitting vaping. Vaping is highly addictive—as the teen nicotine epidemic proves—and poses significant health risks, so we need to support teens that want to stop.