Shaheen & Hassan Announce a Significant Increase in Opioid Treatment Funding for New Hampshire Following Their Efforts in Budget Negotiations & Work With the Trump Administration

(Washington, DC)—Following a multi-pronged effort by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to deliver resources to help New Hampshire battle the opioid epidemic, today the Senators announced a significant increase in treatment funding for the state. New Hampshire will receive $22.9 million for the remainder of fiscal year 2018 through the state-based opioid response grants provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a significant increase over the previous year’s total of $3.1 million.

 As members of the Common Sense Caucus, Senators Shaheen and Hassan helped secure an additional $6 billion to combat the opioid crisis in the budget deal signed into law in February, and helped ensure that a dedicated portion of that funding would be set aside specifically for states hardest hit by the opioid crisis. They’ve also led efforts to change the SAMHSA funding formula that puts states like New Hampshire with small populations and high mortality rates from opioid overdoses, at a disadvantage. SAMHSA has agreed to change this funding formula and also limit the number of states eligible for the set-aside funds to a targeted list of states, adhering to a request from the New Hampshire congressional delegation. Together, the funding increase in the government funding bill and these subsequent changes to allocate additional resources to states with exceptionally high overdose death rates, have led to the substantial increase in resources for New Hampshire announced today.

“This significant increase in funding for treatment is long overdue and will undoubtedly help save lives across our state,” said Senator Shaheen. “Far too many Granite Staters are suffering because they can’t get the treatment they desperately need as demand far outweighs supply. I applaud leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and SAMHSA for working with me and the New Hampshire delegation to prioritize funding for our state. Additional funding to respond to the opioid epidemic has been my number one priority in Congress, and I’m very relieved that we’ve been able to work together to secure these critical resources for New Hampshire. However, this effort is by no means over: Senator Hassan and I will continue to build on progress to ramp-up federal opioid response efforts and deliver needed resources until we’ve turned the tide of this epidemic.”

“It has long been clear that we need significantly more funding to combat the opioid crisis, and this announcement is an important next step in our efforts to help save lives and support those on the front lines of this devastating epidemic,” Senator Hassan said. “I commend Secretary Azar for heeding my calls – and those of Senator Shaheen and our entire New Hampshire congressional delegation – to change the flawed funding formula and ensure that states like New Hampshire that have been hardest hit get our fair share of funding for prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. While this increased funding is critical, we also know that it will ultimately take far more funding to truly turn the tide of this deadly epidemic, and I will keep working with the New Hampshire delegation and members of both parties to get our state the federal support we need.”

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