Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Advocates, Officials Warn Repeal Would Undermine Progress Made Against Opioid Epidemic
In the three years since the Affordable Care Act took effect, its federally funded expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults has become the states’ most powerful weapon in the battle against the nation’s worsening opioid epidemic. Now, as Congress and President Donald Trump debate potential replacements for the law, governors, health care professionals and advocates for the poor are cautioning that any cut in federal funding for addiction treatment could reverse much of the progress states have made. (Vestal, 2/6)
In other news on the crisis —
California’s millennials continue to flood hospital emergency departments because of heroin, a trend that has increased steadily statewide over the past five years, according to the latest figures. The state data released last week show that in the first three months of 2016, 412 adults age 20 to 29 went to emergency departments due to heroin. That’s double the number for the same time period in 2012. Overall, emergency department visits among heroin users of all ages increased, but the sharpest was among the state’s young adults. About 1,500 emergency department visits by California’s millennials poisoned by heroin were logged in 2015 compared with fewer than 1,000 in 2012. (Abram, 2/6)
It sounds like a godsend for America's opioid epidemic: genetic tests that can predict how a patient will respond to narcotic painkillers, as well as an individual's risk of misuse, addiction, and potentially deadly side effects. Proove Biosciences of Irvine, Calif., claims its "opioid response" and "opioid risk" tests are the only precision medicine tools on the market to do all that, giving doctors information "to guide opioid selection and dosage decisions as well as treat side effects." (McCullough, 2/6)
Nearly 4,000 grams of drugs seized. More than 570 needles collected, and 350 Narcan kits distributed. More than 19,000 visits to Hope For NH Recovery by individuals seeking help with addiction. These are just a few of the statistics included in a 24-page report detailing the city of Manchester’s response to the opioid crisis in 2016. (Feely, 2/7)
