Delaware

I know people in treatment - and I heard about yet another OD just last night - so this scares me to death. And I live in a fairly rural area, small town America, but this is an epidemic and affects every part of the country. It's not a joke, people really are going to die.


Opioid addiction treatment faces cuts with new GOP plan

Medicaid caps and changing eligibility criteria proposed in the Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act could drastically curtail access to opioid addiction treatment, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office released earlier this week.

“I worry anytime access to health care services is going to be cut,” said Susan Roberts-McManus, a licensed clinical social worker and director of the Washington and Warren County Centers for Recovery at Glens Falls Hospital. “Related to the Medicaid funding, we are concerned if they don’t have access to services.”

In a report released on Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, analysts point to such caps and a nearly 25 percent pullback over time of Medicaid eligibility for individuals who currently qualify as Medicaid expanded adults under the Affordable Care Act.

Under this expanded coverage, treatment for opioid addiction, including buprenorphine medication-assisted treatment, millions of Americans have been able to receive treatment for addictions.

“The decreased availability of these services will seriously impact those seeking treatment with Suboxone or Vivitrol,” said Charles Moak, director of outpatient services at Conifer Park in Glens Falls on Friday. “Many of these individuals have already required Narcan reversals due to overdose. We shouldn’t be losing individuals due to lack of life-saving services.”


http://poststar.com/news/local/opioid-addiction-treatment-faces-cuts-with-new-gop-plan/article_9cd32ba8-2e5b-5393-8dc2-6d3ebec64302.html