Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday that the government was seeing results in its efforts to stop the opioid crisis, but that success would not come easily.
“I do believe we’re making progress on every measure,” Azar said in Senate testimony. “It’s going to be a long fight.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., had challenged Azar, saying that the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to Medicaid would make it harder for her state to address its opioid crisis. New Hampshire has expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. The Trump budget calls for reversing the expansion.
“Why does this budget say to the millions of Americans who support Medicaid expansion, ‘Your voices don’t matter’?” Hassan asked.
New Hampshire has the second-highest rate of overdose-related deaths in the country. In 2016, there were 437 opioid-related overdose deaths, nearly 3 times higher than the national rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000.
Since 2016, though, New Hampshire residents have had access to a Medicaid benefit for the identification and treatment of substance use disorders.
In response to Hassan’s question, Azar also said that the Trump administration’s proposal to convert Medicaid into a block grant given to states to administer as they see fit would “actually allow a much more targeted, focused approach.”
Opioid use disorder costs the United States about $76 billion annually, and much of the country’s treatment programs are funded by federal grants. But Azar was unable to provide a figure when asked how much treatment, prevention, and recovery measures would cost down the line.
