House panel holds hearing on opioid treatment approach and funding

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform today held the third in a series of hearings examining solutions to the opioid epidemic, which focused on the adequacy of the federal response and on legislation to expand access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders. The Comprehensive Addiction Resource Emergency Act (H.R. 2569/S. 1365), reintroduced last month by Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., would establish a grant program intended to provide $100 billion in federal funding over 10 years to help states and communities address the opioid crisis. It is modeled on the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, enacted in 1990 to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Testifying at the hearing were representatives from the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, Berkeley-Morgan County (W.Va.) Board of Health, American Society of Addiction Medicine, National Nurses United, and Children and Family Futures.