OKPOLICY.ORG
By Meg Wingerter
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will issue an order declaring a national emergency related to opioids, but it isn’t clear what that will do for Oklahoma’s efforts to fight a wave of overdoses.
Trump didn’t release specific information about the wording of the declaration, which still was being drafted as of Thursday afternoon. He alluded to spending additional money to combat addiction.
The declaration also could loosen some rules, including one that prevents drug treatment facilities with more than 16 beds from receiving Medicaid payments, according to the Washington Examiner.
The “institutions for mental disease” exclusion grew out of efforts to prevent patients with mental illnesses from being treated in large mental hospitals, which at the time often warehoused patients with relatively little treatment. While the rule had good intentions, it limits the types of facilities where low-income people can seek treatment.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services said Thursday that its officials couldn’t comment about the declaration because they haven’t seen a copy.
“Addressing opioid abuse has been a priority for ODMHSAS and multiple state partners,” spokesman Jeff Dismukes said.
Oklahoma has had high rates of overdoses and opioid misuse in recent years, but the declaration will only help if it addresses issues like better treatment for chronic pain and improved access to substance abuse treatment, said Gene Perry, policy director at the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
Putting more resources into preventing drug trafficking at the border, for example, wouldn’t address the problem, he said.
“That wouldn’t do anything for the situation in Oklahoma,” he said. “It’s not illegal drugs that are having this effect in Oklahoma.”
http://newsok.com/article/5559700
