On October 2nd, Attorney General Josh Shapiro lead a call to Congress alongside 39 other Attorneys Generals and the National Association of Attorneys General to create a legislative change in the accessibility and affordability to treatment for addicts in America. In effects to create change in the corrupt treatment industry, Shapiro is calling the bill ” The Road to Recovery Act.”
Shapiro in collaboration with other Attorneys General sent a letter to The House of Representatives describing the epidemic of opioid abuse and drug overdoses happening in American today.
According to Gant Local News, Shapiro stated:
” … [W]e cannot arrest our way out of this problem because it is not just a public safety challenge – it is a public health challenge as well.”
“In Pennsylvania and states around the country, my colleague Attorneys General and I are doing our part in going after the drug dealers who are selling these poisons and fueling this epidemic,” said Shapiro.
“But law enforcement alone will not solve this problem. We need more treatment for people suffering from addiction, which is a disease.
“The Road to Recovery Act will create more treatment options, and this bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General strongly supports its passage in Congress.”
The Road to Recovery Act will open a barrier that was put in place 50 years ago in the Medicaid program that has acted as a wall to access residential treatment facilities for addicts suffering from many forms of addictions including opioids. It also addresses the lack of funding for large residential mental illness facilities.
In the original Medicaid legislation in 1965, there was an exclusion of these funds for such facilities. It did have the effect they were looking for of closing inhumane facilities. Now Shapiro is looking for a way to change legislation to allow residential mental illness facilities to help Americans with drug addiction.
The “Road to Recovery” Act will remove the exclusion for addiction treatment facilities only. This will help open new avenues for addiction treatment while maintaining appropriate restrictions on mental health facilities.
Shapiro said,” More than 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016, a 24 percent increase from the year before. In Pennsylvania last year, 4,642 people died from a drug overdose. The ‘Road to Recovery’ Act will help those struggling with addiction gain access to treatment, and eliminate a decades-old Medicaid rule that limits residential treatment options.”
This bill supported by health care providers, insurers, treatment centers, governors of both parties and the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
My Rehab Recovery is championing the change in legislation to delete the corruption and greed for money to help save lives of those struggling with addiction. We are for the new direction of this industry. My Rehab Recovery is serving as the first layer of change in order for treatment centers in America to be held to a higher standard and prevent deaths from addiction.
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction visit My Rehab Recovery or call 855.977.3422.
