Manchin: GOP health plan would negatively impact opioid treatment
Manchin said Medicaid provides health care for more than 33 percent of individuals with opioid disorders. Medicaid beneficiaries are more likely to receive treatment, both inpatient and outpatient, than privately insured adults with addiction, he said.
"We still have people in denial, people believing that drug abuse, addiction as we know it, is not an illness," Manchin said. "We know it is an illness and an illness needs treatment, treatment we're able to give now through the Affordable Care Act."
Manchin was joined in a conference call by Sen.
Casey and Manchin were joined by law enforcement officials from
"It's really an insult to all the families across the country who are so relieved that their loved ones are now in treatment or recovery thanks to Medicaid expansion," Casey said. "We don't need a grant program. We need health insurance for people that need it. We need them to get quality care."
Manchin said dropping Medicaid support would force the state of
Senate Majority leader
The
The
bill that ties them only to age, the Post reported. The
But the focus Tuesday was on opioid treatment funding.
Manchin said the
Manchin reported that:
--In 2015, more than 52,000 people died in
--In
--In 2015,
He said that under the ACA, more than 50,000 West Virginians are receiving substance-use disorder services. The ACA's expansion of health care coverage has helped support prevention and recovery by providing counseling and care for other conditions that often accompany drug use disorders, according to the senator's report.
If the ACA is repealed, 14 million people would lose health insurance coverage next year and 23 million would lose coverage by 2026. Researchers estimate that repealing the mental health and substance-use disorder coverage provisions of the ACA would result in a
Nationally, Medicaid pays for nearly a quarter of all prescriptions for the opioid treatment drug buprenorphine. In
The senators said the Republican plan to cap federal Medicaid spending and eliminate Medicaid expansion would shift costs to states. According to one estimate conducted by the
In a press release, Manchin said, "As many as 2.8 million Americans with a substance-use disorder would lose some or all of their insurance if the ACA's consumer protections and Medicaid expansion are eliminated.
He added: "In fact, of the 175,000 West Virginians who gained coverage through the expansion, more than 50,000 have been diagnosed with a substance-use disorder and given the chance to get treatment. The CBO (
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