Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate are seeking $100 billion in new funding over ten years to fight the opioid crisis.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act on Wednesday to drastically increase funding for the fight to reduce opioid abuse. The funding would go mainly to states to develop their own approaches.
“We can’t defeat the opioid crisis with empty words and half measures,” said Warren in a statement. “Our bill will funnel millions of dollars directly to the hardest-hit communities and give them the tools to fight back.”
Cummings added that the bill would provide “adequate and stable funding for states and local communities.”
The bill would give $4 billion per year to states, territories and tribal governments, and another $2 billion to states with the highest levels of opioid overdoses, according to a release on the legislation. An additional $2.7 billion per year would go to counties and cities hit hardest by the epidemic.
West Virginia, Ohio, and New Hampshire are some of the states suffering the most from the epidemic that kills more than 116 people a day.
The bill also gives $500 million per year to expand access to the overdose antidote naloxone, and nearly $2 billion a year to public health surveillance and medical research.
Cummings and Warren’s bill is modeled after the bipartisan Ryan White CARE Act enacted nearly 30 years ago to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Both the House and Senate are considering major legislation this year to combat opioid abuse. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee is considering more than 70 bills during a hearing next week.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will also consider its own legislation during a hearing next week.
