State gets $1.9M for opioid-use treatment

(Upated 9:55 a.m.)
PROVIDENCE – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced $1.9 million in funding for Rhode Island to improve access to treatment for opioid-use disorders.
The funding is part of up to $11 million in Medication-Assisted Treatment Prescription Drug Opioid Addiction Grants going to 11 states.
“The epidemic of opioid-use disorders involving the nonmedical use of prescription opioid pain relievers and the use of heroin has had a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities across our nation,” said Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Principal Deputy Administrator Kana Enomoto. “These grants will help address the key elements of the opioid crisis by promoting effective prevention efforts, preventing overdose deaths and helping ensure that people with opioid use disorders are able to receive vital treatment and recovery support services.”
The program targets states with the highest rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin and prescription opioids per capita, and prioritizes those states with the most dramatic recent increases for heroin and opioids. Other states receiving funding include: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon.
Under President Barack Obama’s 2017 budget proposal, Rhode Island would be eligible for up to $4 million over two years to expand access to treatment.
According to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s office, there were more than 250 overdose deaths in Rhode Island last year. Since 2011, nearly 1,200 Rhode Islanders have died of accidental overdoses, a number that exceeds the number of deaths from car crashes, firearms and fires combined during the same period.
Raimondo in July signed several bills into law targeting the state’s opioid crisis.
They include establishing prescribing limits for addictive pain medication when initially prescribed for acute pain. They also require health insurance providers that provide prescription coverage for overdose preventive medicine such as naloxone to cover the medicine when it is purchased by a family member or friend to save an overdose victim’s life.

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