Last week, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman was in Cincinnati for a press conference about the heroin crisis in Ohio.
Portman said this about recent deaths due to Fentanyl-spiked drugs:
You're playing Russian roulette with your life every time you use a street drug, because you don't know what's in it
Meanwhile, behind closed doors in the Senate, a small group of Republicans worked with industry lobbyists to eliminate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that currently covers 2.8 million people with substance abuse disorders, including 220,000 Ohioans. The Senate bill was released Thursday and it too will make the heroin crisis worse.
Roughly 10,000 people are expected to die from an overdose in Ohio alone this year, Sen. Portman. That’s more overdose deaths than the entire nation suffered in 1990.
It’s hard to know if you’re aware of this fact, Sen. Portman, but under the Affordable Care Act coverage for addiction treatment must be complete, as it is for other medical conditions. Some of the treatments available under ACA plans include:
- Addiction evaluation
- Brief intervention
- Addiction treatment medication
- Clinic visits
- Alcohol and drug testing
- Home health visits
- Family counseling
- Anti-craving medication
“Of all the illnesses, this is one where we’ve seen very dramatic changes and where we stand to lose the most ground if we lose the ACA,” said Linda Rosenberg, president and chief executive of the National Council for Behavioral Health.
Under the ACA, benefits are not subject to any pre-existing conditions clauses. Under the proposed congressional version of Trumpcare, any recent treatment for drug or alcohol abuse is a pre-existing condition for which insurance companies could price people out of coverage.
One of the things it looks like they’re trying to do under Trumpcare is say that they’re not denying anyone coverage, while technically denying people coverage by pricing them out of insurance.
Here are some of the other things likely to happen under Trumpcare:
Losing substance abuse coverage would affect 220,000 Ohioans.
Recently, Sen. Portman, Congress voted to provide $1.1 billion to states to help fight the opioid crisis over the next two years. Now, they’re voting to take $5.5 billion away in just one year.
This isn’t progress. This is going in the opposite direction.
Here’s hoping you will do more than get your picture taken when it comes to fighting heroin and opioid addiction. Vote against the new Trumpcare proposals if they eliminate coverage for treating substance abuse.
If you live in Ohio, call Sen. Portman and ask him to really fight heroin and opioid addiction. Ask him to vote against repealing the ACA.
Contact Sen. Rob Portman
Washington D.C.: (202) 224-3353
Cincinnati: (513) 684-3265
Columbus: (614) 469-6774
Cleveland: (216) 522-7095
Toledo: (419) 259-3895
@senrobportman
David Akadjian is the author of The Little Book of Revolution: A Distributive Strategy for Democracy (also available as an ebook).