Government Funding to Be Distributed for Addiction Treatment

DANBURY, Conn. - April 24, 2018 - PRLog -- U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy met with local government officials and activists to explain how government funds would expand addiction treatment options in the state. He said that $3.6 billion from the national budget will be distributed to states to battle the opioid crisis.

He also stated that he is working with insurance companies to make it easier for patients to get approved for treatment of substance use disorders. His 2016 Mental Health Reform Act laid the groundwork for his current proposals in expanding addiction treatment.

Although he said funding may be limited since Connecticut is a small state, the money will keep current programs running and implement further ones.

A bill Murphy plans on presenting will potentially lead to the training and staffing of addiction recovery coaches nationwide, based on the state's model.

Connecticut's Chief Medical Examiner James R. Gill announced nearly 1,040 accidental drug intoxication deaths occurred in 2017. More than twenty occurred in Danbury. In nearly two-thirds of cases across the state, fentanyl was mixed with other substances.

The state's Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services recently held a conference which featured presentations on how to expand addiction treatment and how studying the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1990s can inform prevention and treatment programs amid the current opioid crisis.

Murphy said he is confident that policy makers are finally understanding the gravity of the opioid epidemic and are ready to make a change.

https://www.drugaddictionnow.com/2018/04/23/addiction-tre...