Hearing of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee - What are the State Governments Doing to Combat the Opioid Abuse Epidemic?

Hearing

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today's hearing and for your due diligence in
investigating the opioid abuse epidemic. I'm glad this Subcommittee is devoting significant
attention to this issue because like all of the Members here today, I am concerned about what is
happening in my state.

A New Jersey state official recently reported that more than 6,000 people in the state
have died from overdoses since 2004. He also reported that more teens are dying from drug
overdoses in New Jersey than car accidents.

Today, we are hearing from state health officials about ongoing efforts within their
agencies to combat this epidemic. I know you all are dealing with many aspects of this issue,
from reducing opioid prescribing rates to increasing access to treatment to programs.

I look forward to hearing about the work you are doing, and I hope you all can learn from
each other as well.

I also want to hear from all of the witnesses today how we as the federal government can
help fight this epidemic. We heard earlier this month from a number of federal agencies about
their work, but I want to make sure we are supporting the states in their efforts to address the
epidemic.

We have heard repeatedly throughout this series of hearings that significant barriers to
treatment for substance use disorders still exist. For example, SAMHSA's 2013 National Survey
on Drug Use and Health found that nearly 40% of individuals who made an effort to seek
treatment were unable to get treatment due to lack of health coverage and the prohibitive cost of
treatment. Another 8% reported that they had health coverage, but it did not cover the costs of
treatment.

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, approximately 16.4 million Americans have
gained health insurance coverage. And insurance companies are now required to provide
treatment for substance abuse disorders and cover it just as they would cover treatment for any
other chronic disease.

But we still need to understand where barriers to treatment remain, and we should work
on making sure those who want to access treatment are able to do so.

I also want to hear from all of our witnesses today about how Medicaid expansion -- or in
Missouri's case, a failure to expand Medicaid -- has had an impact on treatment for substance
abuse disorders. I know Massachusetts and Colorado both signed Medicaid expansion into law
in 2013, and Indiana expanded Medicaid earlier this year.

I'm interested to hear from all three of your states about how Medicaid expansion has
improved access to behavioral health services. And I want to hear from Missouri how Medicaid
expansion could help those seeking access to behavioral health services and what challenges you
face by not expanding the program.

Thank you again for holding this hearing, and thank you to all our witnesses for sharing
your insight today.

I yield my remaining time to Rep. Kennedy.

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