Federal funds to fight opioid crisis don’t meet demand

CURRENT FEDERAL FUNDING levels to combat the opioid crisis don’t meet the alarming demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis.

The Bipartisan Policy Center last week released a report that found federal opioid funding grew only 3.2% in fiscal 2019, for a total of

$7.6 billion.

Three-quarters of that funding went toward treatment, recovery and prevention programs in states, with the rest dedicated to law enforcement. That marks a departure from the war on drugs approach taken by most states for the past 40 years, which mostly involved increasing prison sentences for both drug dealers and users.

The analysis also found Medicaid coverage of medication-assisted therapies like buprenorphine and naltrexone and the opioid overdose-reversal medication naloxone grew by 15% to nearly $1.6 billion in 2019.

Despite those gains, the research found the nation’s treatment system is woefully inadequate to meet the current demand, estimating only 10% of individuals with substance use disorder issues are receiving appropriate support.

In a panel discussion last week, Dr. Anand Parekh, the center’s chief medical adviser, said while federal funding remained stable and was allocated to those counties with the highest number of overdose deaths, it was difficult to determine whether it was helping those at highest risk of overdose, like the homeless, the imprisoned and pregnant women.

“We have no proper mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of federal investments, and the opioid crisis is getting worse,” Parekh said.

The report recommended removing federal regulations that restrict buprenorphine prescribing and for increased coordination between states and federal regulators.

More than 40 states have seen deaths caused by opioids increase since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the American Medical Association.