Senator Maggie Hassan Statement on Announcement of President Trump’s Opioid Commission

Senator Maggie Hassan Statement on Announcement of President Trump's Opioid Commission

Senator Hassan: "We Need to See if This Commission Will be More Than Just Window Dressing"

WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan released the following statement on the announcement of President Trump's opioid commission:

"I am encouraged that the White House is acknowledging the heroin, fentanyl, and opioid crisis and I am ready to work with the Trump Administration and members of Congress from both parties to support those on the front lines. But we need to see if this commission will be more than just window dressing, because the policies we've seen from this administration so far would dramatically impede our ability to combat this crisis. Trumpcare would have repealed Medicaid expansion, and the President's budget proposal would undermine efforts to strengthen our health care workforce and invest in biomedical research into how we address addiction. The Trump Administration also won't commit to maintaining the requirement that insurance companies must cover essential health benefits like behavioral health and substance use disorder services. I'm focused on implementing a comprehensive, bipartisan approach to this crisis, including protecting Medicaid expansion, cracking down on the distribution of fentanyl, and strengthening treatment, prevention, and recovery efforts. I stand ready to work with President Trump if and when he is ready to pursue a comprehensive approach focused on both the supply and demand side to combat this crisis."

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