The final article I am posting shows that despite the increasing awareness that laypeople have of the opioid crisis, some states are failing to recognize this and are slashing funds that are meant to go for treatment centers. One example is Louisiana.
The latest state budget proposal,
passed by the Louisiana House, scraps $47 million worth of state and federal funding that pays for outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs for adults enrolled in Medicaid. In January, 4,600 people were using services paid for with this money that would no longer be available, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
It could be worse. The original budget proposal considered by lawmakers completely eliminated drug and alcohol treatment for adults with Medicaid after July 1. It scrapped all inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment funding -- a total of $74 million from state and federal sources.
Do you think that there can be other solutions that can alleviate the impacts of these cuts? What would happen if, let's say, insurance acknowledge that there are other treatments that are needed beyond Naxolone and start covering therapy? Would this be a good solution?
This is a potentially tragic policy for the addicts of Louisiana. On first thought, it would be interesting to see where that money would be reallocated and if that is necessary.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, if they are cutting this much of the budget you would hope anything they could substitute to alleviate the damage potentially caused by this policy would be a good solution
I too find it interesting where the money would be reallocated to. Millions of dollars are being cut from individuals who need the treatment, I hope these non opioid related solutions can be put into place.
DeleteThese cuts are likely being used elsewhere instead of for treatment. I think to alleviate the impacts of these cuts, the people would need to take the burden and create community treatment centers run by committed volunteers. Unfortunately, it seems as if we are going through a period in time where the health of the mass population is being ignored and funds are being directed elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm sure there are ways to minimize the impact of these cuts, its hard to fully replace $47 million worth of funds. It's just unfortunate that at a time where we need these programs more than ever, funds are repeatedly being funneled elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Darryl on this. It just feels like the priority of the U.S., and where the funding is going is towards law enforcement and other areas outside of the Opioid Crisis. Based on what we have read and seen thus far, I would attribute that to a lack of understanding about drug addiction and willingness to get addicts help.
DeleteNGO can also help to alleviate the impacts, but they may face financial issues at the same time. Whatever any alternative solutions could enact, I agree with such cut would inevitably influence people in a negative way. So government really needs to put treatment program as high priority.
ReplyDeleteWow... It's scary to see that some places are putting policies into place that are going backwards. I think there needs to be educated policymakers who advise state and local governments on what kind of action to take .
ReplyDeleteHurts to see states moving in the opposite direction in containing this crisis; that is a lot of money and even alternative solutions wouldn't have as strong of an impact. That being said, I like the idea of community and even nonprofit organizations getting involved to create treatment centers.
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