State of the Union Address by President Donald J. Trump February 5th, 2019
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Sen. Murray to President Trump: Ripping Apart Health Care System Would Hurt Washington’s Efforts to Fight Opioid Epidemic

President Trump’s efforts to repeal the ACA would also slash Medicaid funding

Nearly 30,000 people got substance use disorder treatment in 2015 in WA because of Medicaid expansion

In letter, Senators wrote “The ACA’s investments in substance use disorders are essential to continue fighting all types of addiction”

ACA repeal would take away $5.5 billion in just one year from addiction and mental health treatment services

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) joined Senate colleagues in writing to President Donald Trump warning that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no replacement would pull the rug out from under local communities working to combat the opioid epidemic, and could endanger millions of Americans just as they are getting treatment. A repeal threatens to cut $5.5 billion in federal dollars that each year go toward treating Americans battling opioid addiction through the Medicaid expansion or the ACA marketplaces. From 2014 – 2015, drug overdose rates in Washington state increased 10.5 percent and have surpassed car crashes as the number one cause of accidental death. Over the past year, Sen. Murray has met with families, health officials, and law enforcement in communities across Washington state, including Seattle, Bellingham, Vancouver, the Tri-Cities, Yakima, and Spokane, about the urgent need to address the opioid epidemic.

“The consequences of repealing the Affordable Care Act are dire for all Americans, but they are especially calamitous for Americans living with a mental illness, a substance use disorder, or both,” the Senators wrote. “Repealing this law will cut billions of dollars in funding, kick tens of millions of Americans off of their health insurance, and saddle providers with hundreds of millions of dollars more in uncompensated care.”

Nationwide, millions of Americans currently receiving treatment for substance use disorders or mental illness could be kicked off of their coverage under repeal. A recent report from Harvard Medical School and New York University details the devastating impact the repeal would have on those struggling with addiction.

In December 2016, President Obama signed into law the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act – legislation that will provide $1 billion in federal grant funding over the next two years to states like Washington, Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire that have been hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. But now, Congress is working to repeal the health law and pull addiction services – and funding for treatment – out from under millions of Americans. In the letter, the Senators note that at the same time states are competing for the grants made available through Cures, ACA repeal stands to take away $5.5 billion annually from addiction and mental health treatment services.

The letter, led by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), was also signed by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH).

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