New York must declare opioids a public health emergency
The latest U.S. overdose death numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us that nationwide, 111,355 died from April 2022 to April 2023. That is almost the equivalent of losing the entire population of the city of Albany.
More than 6,900 of those lost lives occurred in New York state. While the numbers nationally are leveling off, those for New York continue to rise more than 10% year after year.
Some seem to believe that leveling off at 111,355 deaths represents progress. While that characterization is a stretch, to put it mildly, there is no definition of “progress” that includes a 10% increase in overdose deaths every year.
That loss of life is a clear indication that either our efforts are not working or they are not enough. It’s a signal that bold, urgent action is necessary.
The federal government declared an opioid public health emergency in 2017, and it is still in effect. The time has come for New York state to declare its own opioid public health emergency.
A public health emergency declaration would allow the state to take immediate actions, such as:
waiving insurance co-pays and deductibles for New Yorkers attempting to access treatment;
creating a procurement process that speeds up distribution of opioid settlement funds;
waiving application fees for counselors who want to work in the addiction service system; and
adjusting staffing requirements for addiction service providers that protect patient safety while acknowledging that they cannot recruit and retain a workforce that allows for more services to be provided.
These are just an example of the many actions that the state could take. Others include waiving licensing fees for professionals working in state Office of Addiction Services and Supports programs; allowing professionals licensed in another state to practice in OASAS programs; and increasing Medicaid rates for OASAS programs.
The time is now: New York state needs to declare an opioid public health emergency.
Robert Kent was general counsel at the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports from 2007 to 2020 and served as the general counsel in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the first two years of the Bidenharris administration.