HARTFORD – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, applauded President Obama’s new action plan to combat the United States’ growing opioid and heroin addiction epidemic. Murphy urged Congress to vote as quickly as possible on his Mental Health Reform Act and the TREAT Act to expand access to treatment, prevent overdose-related deaths, and increase prevention strategies. Both bills unanimously passed the HELP Committee earlier this month, and now await votes on the Senate floor. 

Yesterday, Murphy spent a “Day in the Life” meeting with patients, health professionals, law enforcement, and advocates around Connecticut to learn firsthand how he can improve federal efforts to combat Connecticut’s addiction crisis and save lives. 

Murphy released the following statement:

“I spent all day yesterday getting to know the ins-and-outs of Connecticut’s opioid epidemic. I listened to recovering patients, health experts, and law enforcement personnel, and it’s beyond clear that we have a serious crisis in our hands. Connecticut has seen over 700 drug-related deaths in just the last year. Treatment centers have two-month waiting lists, individuals who are looking for help have nowhere to turn to, and emergency rooms just don’t have enough resources.

“The president’s announcement today is an important step toward stopping the devastating tidal wave of addiction and overdoses plaguing our nation. His actions will help tens of thousands of Americans get the life-saving treatment they need by doubling the number of patients a physician can treat with buprenorphine and making it easier for first responders to administer naloxone in life-or-death situations. His plan will continue to improve our current mental health parity laws and ensure that patients actually receive the mental health benefits they’re entitled to – something I’ve been fighting to achieve for a long time through my Mental Health Reform Act.

“Congress needs to take meaningful action and commit real federal dollars to address the problem – not in a few years, but right now – so we can offer some tangible relief to communities in Connecticut and across this country. I urge Senate and House leaders to take up and pass the Mental Health Reform Act and the TREAT Act as soon as possible.”

Under President Obama’s new initiative, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will propose a new rule to increase the patient limit for qualified physicians who prescribe buprenorphine - an FDA-approved medication that helps people end their use of opiates – from 100 to 200 patients. As a cosponsor of the TREAT Act, Murphy is pushing to increase that limit from 100 to 500 patients, and to allow certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants with higher levels of training to also prescribe the medication. Obama has also directed HHS to finalize a rule that will require mental health and substance abuse service benefits to be offered at parity for individuals enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans, as well as convene a new Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force to promote compliance with the law. The new Medicaid and CHIP rule is complementary to the mental health parity provisions in Murphy’s Mental Health Reform Act, and is expected to benefit more than 23 million people. Obama’s plan also includes a new $11 million funding opportunity to help states purchase and distribute naloxone – a drug that stops overdoses – and train first responders on how to administer the life-saving medication. Murphy voted to support the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) earlier this month to expand access to Naloxone for first responders nationwide.