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Merkley bill would force drug cos. to fund opioid treatment

KTVZ

In the wake of discoveries that the opioid epidemic is worsening due to the rise of synthetic opioids, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced Tuesday the Opioid Treatment Surge Act to fund a dramatic increase in treatment capacity by imposing fees on drug companies that created the opioid crisis.

Merkley said the legislation would put substance abuse treatment in reach for struggling communities across the country and more than double federal dollars allocated to Oregon by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant program.

“I have heard heart-wrenching stories from Oregonians who have lost loved ones after a prescription for an injury or treatment turned into an addiction,” said Merkley. ” Drug companies jeopardized the health of every community in America when they flooded the streets with opioids to generate massive profits. They intentionally downplayed the addictiveness of opioid drugs and put millions of lives at risk. We need greater treatment resources across the nation, and it’s time for the drug companies to take responsibility for their role in creating this crisis by paying to treat the addictions they created. ”

Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die from an opioid overdose. In 2017, the last full year of available opioid data, 1.7 million Americans experienced a substance use disorder stemming from opioid prescription drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 21 to 29 percent of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.

The misuse of prescribed opioids has also led to an alarming uptick in illicit drug use. Four to six percent of those who misuse opioids turn to heroin and roughly 80 percent of heroin users previously misused prescription drugs. The integration of other synthetic opioids — like fentanyl, the leading cause of opioid related deaths — has further exacerbated the risks of drug addiction and led to more deaths.

Drug companies irresponsibly fueled the opioid epidemic–and the destruction of subsequent waves of heroin and fentanyl-related drug deaths–by overprescribing and deploying aggressive marketing tactics that downplayed the addictive nature of their drugs. Merkley’s Opioid Treatment Surge Act would require those same drug companies to pay for additional treatment to address this crisis.

The bill would establish a $2 billion per year treatment surge for the next 10 years, paid for by a fee on opioid manufacturers. The companies would pay each year’s assessment in proportion to their portion of overall opioid sales since 1999–the year the opioid crisis slowly began to build. The companies that manufactured the most opioids would pay the highest portion of the annual fee.

The bill provides exceptions to the fee for opioids used exclusively for the treatment of opioid addiction — as part of a medically-assisted treatment effort–or for those used by cancer or hospice patients.

Revenue from the $2 billion fee will go to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant program, which distributes noncompetitive grants to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, six Pacific jurisdictions, and one tribal entity, to prevent and treat substance abuse and promote public health.

Information about how the Opioid Treatment Surge Act would increase funding on a state-by-state basis follows below.

State

FY18 Funding

Under Merkley Bill

Alabama

$23,356,917

$49,253,224

Alaska

$6,154,694

$12,978,533

Arizona

$40,644,307

$85,707,509

Arkansas

$13,790,921

$29,081,207

California

$254,706,548

$537,105,080

Colorado

$29,045,376

$61,248,598

Connecticut

$18,479,143

$38,967,359

Delaware

$7,233,530

$15,253,498

Florida

$111,656,028

$235,451,426

Georgia

$57,423,236

$121,089,591

Hawaii

$8,848,122

$18,658,222

Idaho

$8,801,737

$18,560,409

Illinois

$67,917,901

$143,219,913

Indiana

$32,514,482

$68,563,975

Iowa

$13,359,727

$28,171,939

Kansas

$12,165,916

$25,654,524

Kentucky

$20,645,520

$43,535,644

Louisiana

$25,294,067

$53,338,134

Maine

$7,233,530

$15,253,498

Maryland

$34,348,574

$72,431,564

Massachusetts

$40,114,281

$84,589,832

Michigan

$56,323,757

$118,771,097

Minnesota

$24,988,666

$52,694,128

Mississippi

$14,070,016

$29,669,740

Missouri

$26,816,271

$56,548,037

Montana

$7,233,530

$15,253,498

Nebraska

$7,907,045

$16,673,753

Nevada

$17,270,184

$36,418,002

New Hampshire

$7,233,530

$15,253,498

New Jersey

$48,334,255

$101,923,465

New Mexico

$9,831,121

$20,731,093

New York

$112,106,839

$236,402,060

North Carolina

$45,261,647

$95,444,192

North Dakota

$6,799,236

$14,337,693

Ohio

$64,807,533

$136,661,014

Oklahoma

$17,416,147

$36,725,797

Oregon

$20,845,513

$43,957,374

Pennsylvania

$59,371,425

$125,197,779

Rhode Island

$7,864,276

$16,583,565

South Carolina

$23,985,271

$50,578,248

South Dakota

$6,307,347

$13,300,436

Tennessee

$32,246,615

$67,999,118

Texas

$144,988,914

$305,741,187

Utah

$16,855,328

$35,543,186

Vermont

$6,725,555

$14,182,320

Virginia

$42,249,325

$89,092,044

Washington

$75,842,286

$159,930,231

West Virginia

$8,698,568

$18,342,854

Wisconsin

$27,465,848

$57,917,814

Wyoming

$4,463,001

$9,411,225

American Samoa

$369,188

$778,515

Guam

$1,049,684

$2,213,491

Fed. Micronesia

$284,243

$599,389

N. Marianas Isle.

$356,527

$751,816

Marshal Islands

$202,872

$427,800

Rep. Palau

$77,395

$163,204

Puerto Rico

$22,815,599

$48,111,736

Virgin Islands

$680,998

$1,436,035

$1,803,880,112

$3,803,880,112

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