Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Opioid Response
Discussion
Senator Chris Murphy highlighted that Dr. Katz is the first Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use at SAMHSA, a new position created under the 21st Century Cures Act. She detailed for the committee the many activities SAMHSA is overseeing to implement the CARA and 21st Century Cures Act, including administering a wide range of grant streams aimed at mental health interventions and the proliferation of medication assisted treatment. She emphasized to the lawmakers the importance of greater integration of mental health and substance abuse treatment into primary care, and better training among a wide range of providers, noting the co-occurring health issues that can be addressed from an integrated approach.
Senator Michael Bennet asked about the federal policy that incarcerated individuals lose access to their Medicaid coverage after transitioning out of prison. Dr. Katz agreed that when former inmates are transitioning back into society, it is a critical time for them to have access to the treatment and support services they need, but said it is a policy set by Congress and the federal government.
Through her testimony, Dr. Houry described how the CDC is focused on the critical effort to prevent addiction in the first place, by funding state efforts in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) and other data-driven prevention programs. She also highlighted the importance of CDC’s public health surveillance work, which she said helped scientis...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
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