State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

State attorneys general seek more beds for drug treatment

AP: CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general on Monday called on Congress to allow Medicaid funding to flow to larger drug treatment centers, potentially expanding the number of addicts who can get help as the nation grapples with an overdose crisis.

The government lawyers for 38 states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting the change. They say it’s needed to help fight the opioid abuse and overdose epidemic, which continues to claim tens of thousands of lives a year.

“If we have any hope of reversing this terrible trend, we need every treatment option at our disposal,” said the letter, which was spearheaded by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, a Democrat.

They noted that people “often develop opioid addiction through prescribed medical usage, with no intent by the patient to engage in abusive behavior, simply because of the addictive properties of opioid drugs.”

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