Rep. Kuster Leads Letter to President Trump Calling for Action on the Opioid Epidemic
Yesterday, Congresswoman
"While we appreciate that the
"...we request that you immediately call on
"We are all concerned by the impact of this epidemic on our communities across the country and across all demographics. We are prepared to work with you to help fulfill your campaign promise to 'end the opioid epidemic in America.' Without bipartisan legislative action, the recommendations outlined by your Commission's interim report will remain unfulfilled."
The full text of the letter is available here (https://kuster.house.gov/sites/kuster.house.gov/files/Letter%20POTUS%20on%20Christie%20Commission.pdf) and below.
President
The
Dear Mr. President,
While we appreciate that the
Yet, it took over six months, and two failed deadlines, for your Commission to release its policy recommendations. Nearly all of those policy recommendations mirror those championed by Senators and Representatives of both parties since this crisis began. In fact, many of the recommendations exist as pending, bipartisan legislation in both chambers of
While it is encouraging that the recommendations presented by the Commission appear to be bipartisan, it inadequately addressed the two main issues stymying our current efforts to provide sufficient treatment and recovery services: funding for treatment and access to care.
The lack of funding for essential treatment and recovery services is a persistent barrier to effectively addressing the opioid crisis. There has been insufficient investment in treatment options by the federal government and it has made a national response to this crisis slow and inconsistent. Discouragingly, the impact of inadequate funding will be immediately felt if the Commission's number one recommendation is enacted - the declaration of a national public health emergency.
The Public Health Services Act, which authorized the President to declare national public health emergencies, also authorized a
Additionally, access to quality and affordable health care remains a significant concern. It is encouraging that the Commission highlighted the need to better enforce mental health and substance use treatment parity with private insurers. These statutory improvements were passed as part of the 21st Century Cures Act to address concerns that insurers were not providing appropriate coverage for treatment of substance use disorder and other mental health concerns.
Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans and the
Consequently, we request that you immediately call on
We are all concerned by the impact of this epidemic on our communities across the country and across all demographics. We are prepared to work with you to help fulfill your campaign promise to "end the opioid epidemic in America." Without bipartisan legislative action, the recommendations outlined by your Commission's interim report will remain unfulfilled.
Thank you for consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
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