Photo Courtesy of Sen. Gillibrand’s Office
“Communities across New York State are desperate for resources and funding to stop the opioid epidemic, and Congress urgently needs to step up and help,” Sen. Gillibrand said.
By Forum Staff
The Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which the U.S. Senate approved on Thursday in an 85-7 tally, includes massive funding that would help communities combat the opioid crisis, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) recently noted.
A portion of the $3.7 billion in federal funding will go toward treatment and prevention programs across the Empire State to help provide support for local public health officials as they address the critical situation, Gillibrand said.
These programs include:
• Evidence-Based Public Health Response Programs: This funding, according to Gillibrand, would benefit programs that improve overdose data collection, programs that provide resources for opioid education and prevention efforts, and the State Targeted Response Grants Program, which helps provide direct resources to states, Tribes, and communities that are tackling the opioid epidemic.
• Community Health Centers: $200 million would be allocated for Community Health Centers, which support and enhance behavioral health, mental health, or substance use disorder services.
• Rural Health Care Programs: $120 million in funding would be used to help rural communities respond to the epidemic, supporting community health centers, outreach and flexibility grants, and the retention and training of rural healthcare providers.
• Public Health and Prevention Fund: The Public Health and Prevention Fund funds the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Indian Health Service. Under these programs, the FY19 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill would specifically include the following: $1.5 billion for SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response Grant, which continues a 15 percent set-aside for states with the highest mortality rate related to opioid use disorders; $476 million to the CDC for opioid overdose prevention and surveillance as well as a public awareness campaign. The bill also includes $5 million for a new initiative in the CDC to combat infectious diseases directly related to opioid use, the senator noted.
“Communities across New York State are desperate for resources and funding to stop the opioid epidemic, and Congress urgently needs to step up and help,” Gillibrand said. “I was proud to fight for a substantial increase in federal funding in the Health and Human Services spending bill, and I was very pleased that my request for these funds was approved and included in this must-pass legislation. Now we are one step closer to giving New York’s towns and cities access to millions of dollars in federal aid to battle the opioid crisis, and I will continue doing everything in my power to make sure our state has all the resources it needs.”
This isn’t Gillibrand’s first foray into addressing the opioid epidemic. In April 2017, she joined the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in introducing bipartisan legislation to combat opioid addiction by limiting the supply of an initial opioid prescription for acute pain to seven days.
Last year, the opioid crisis is estimated to have killed nearly 50,000 Americans, including 3,466 New Yorkers. This represents a record number of deaths due to opioid overdose.
