Category: Opioids Addiction

And Here’s What You Missed On Healthcare!

  

On Monday – The Congressional Budget Office – a nonpartisan group that calculates the impact of proposed legislation – said the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act would leave tens of millions more Americans without coverage in the next decade, but it would also save the government a lot of money. That didn’t help convince any Democrats to back it. But – surprise – many GOP senators aren’t pleased either.

On Tuesday – The Senate delayed the vote on its healthcare plan until after the July 4th break. As a reminder, the plan includes things like a cap on federal funding for Medicaid and a temporary freeze on Planned Parenthood funding. It keeps the rule that insurance companies can’t arbitrarily raise prices for people with pre-existing conditions, but has a caveat that could still increase certain healthcare costs for them. Some say the bill doesn’t do enough to roll back Obamacare. And others are worried cutting funding for things like Medicaid and Planned Parenthood would hurt the Americans who need it most.

On Thursday – Senate GOP lawmakers are adding some extra money to their healthcare bill to help fight the opioid crisis. In recent years, the number of people in the US who have become addicted to opioids (think: heroin and prescription painkillers like oxycodone) has gone way up. Especially in rural parts of America. Cutting how much money states get for Medicaid would mean less money to spend on helping people fight addictions. Many Senators from both sides of the aisle – especially from states hard hit by the opioid crisis – are not down with this. So now, the GOP’s adding $45 billion to their bill specifically for substance abuse treatment. Governors on both side of the aisle say this isn’t enough.

Today – GOP Senators are going back to the drawing board, with new amendments and negotiations, some of which include a repeal and replace-later plan. Which means they’ll wait for another CBO review before putting version 2.0 to a vote.

Now – Senators are heading home for a week of recess, aka district work period, and they need to continue to hear from you.

The Senate made a last-minute decision to delay the vote – all because of nurses like YOU, joining with others across the country, calling every single day to speak out for your patients and the 22 million people at risk of losing their health care.

But a delay isn’t a victory. And your patients deserve a victory.

Even if you’ve already called – even if you already know where your Senators stand – we need EVERYONE to call again.

We’ve seen what can happen when they think we’re not watching: when this bill was in the House, there was a delay just like this week’s delay in the Senate, and lawmakers saw that the calls were slowing down. Just when their constituents let up on the pressure, they rushed their bill through to pass by the thinnest margin.

We absolutely cannot let that happen again!

President Obama Signs 21st Century Cures Act

  

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ANA was proud to be in attendance as  was signed into law (represented by Michelle Artz, Director of Government Affairs). Throughout the year ANA advocated for key elements of the legislation including opioid epidemic funding, comprehensive mental health reform, and investments toward curing cancer.

Statement from the White House:

For nearly a year, President Obama has been calling for real resources to address the opioid crisis and ensure that hundreds of thousands of Americans can get the treatment they need. The bipartisan passage of the bill exemplifies the progress we can make when both parties work together to improve the lives of people across the country.

“The Cures Act makes important investments that will save lives. First, for the families and communities that have lost too many loved ones to the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic, it invests the $1 billion I requested in my budget to address this crisis. Second, the bill answers the Vice President’s call for a Moonshot in cancer research by investing $1.8 billion in new resources to accelerate discoveries. Third, it invests nearly $3 billion to build upon the major biomedical research initiatives we have launched in my Administration – known as the BRAIN and Precision Medicine Initiatives – which are tackling diseases like Alzheimer’s and creating new research models to find cures and better target treatments. Fourth, the Cures Act takes important steps to improve mental health, including building on the work of my Administration’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force. And fifth, the legislation advances the progress we’ve made in improving the Food and Drug Administration’s drug development process by, for example, making sure patients’ voices are part of those decisions.

This is a reminder of what we can do when we look out for one another. Like Joe Biden and so many other Americans, I’ve lost people I love deeply to cancer. I’ve heard often from those whose loved ones are suffering from Alzheimer’s, addiction, and other debilitating diseases. Their heartbreak is real, and so we have a responsibility to respond with real solutions. This bill will make a big difference, and I look forward to signing it as soon as it reaches my desk.” President Barack Obama

ANA-Supported Issues Victorious in Year-End Congressional Sprint

  

Good things come to those who wait…at least, it could be said for the 114th Congress.

On December 7th, the Senate passed a package of important health policy advancements aimed at encouraging health care innovation, improving mental health service coverage, expanding opioid treatment programs, and investing in medical research. The package of bills now moves to the President’s desk for his signature. Throughout the year, ANA advocated strongly for many of the key policy victories contained in last night’s vote, including:

  • The ‘21st Century Cures Act’ seeks to make the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new drugs more efficient and invests $4.8 billion in new medical research at the National Institutes of Health
  • Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” H.R. 2646, and the Mental Health Reform Act, S. 2680, – represents comprehensive reforms to mental-health programs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within Department of Health and Human Services.
  • Funding for Cancer Research: provides funding for $1.8b for Vice President Joe Biden’s “cancer moonshot” program.
  • Fighting the Opioid Epidemic: Provides $1 billion over two years to fight the opioid epidemic. ANA worked closely with Congress and the White House throughout the year to pass legislation and secure enough funding to ensure greater access to treatment services.