By Governor Andrew Cuomo
While states like New York continue to fight against the opioid epidemic ravaging this country, in Washington House and Senate Republicans instead continue their assault on Americans living through this crisis. The health care legislation being advanced in the Senate would strip Medicaid funding used for drug treatment services that save lives and keep families intact.
Now is not the time to cut funding for opioid treatment. Our nation is facing an unprecedented crisis. Drugs are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, resulting in the first decline in American life expectancy since 1993.
On an average day in the United States, pharmacists dispense more than 650,000 opioid prescriptions, 3,900 people begin non-medical use of prescription opioids, 580 people start using heroin and 78 people die from an opioid-related overdose.
And yet, instead of scaling up the response, Senate Republicans propose that we do less — much less. Their health care bill would have devastating consequences for many of our most vulnerable, including those with preexisting conditions. Their proposed cuts to Medicaid funding used to combat the opioid epidemic constitute a heartless attack on people who need help.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The New York Daily News
While states like New York continue to fight against the opioid epidemic ravaging this country, in Washington House and Senate Republicans instead continue their assault on Americans living through this crisis. The health care legislation being advanced in the Senate would strip Medicaid funding used for drug treatment services that save lives and keep families intact.
Now is not the time to cut funding for opioid treatment. Our nation is facing an unprecedented crisis. Drugs are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, resulting in the first decline in American life expectancy since 1993.
On an average day in the United States, pharmacists dispense more than 650,000 opioid prescriptions, 3,900 people begin non-medical use of prescription opioids, 580 people start using heroin and 78 people die from an opioid-related overdose.
And yet, instead of scaling up the response, Senate Republicans propose that we do less — much less. Their health care bill would have devastating consequences for many of our most vulnerable, including those with preexisting conditions. Their proposed cuts to Medicaid funding used to combat the opioid epidemic constitute a heartless attack on people who need help.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The New York Daily News
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