Feds award $71.5 million to Ohio for opioid fight

Ohio will receive $71.5 million over the next two years to combat the opioid epidemic as part of an ongoing federal grant program designed to increase drug treatment access and reduce opioid-related deaths (Source: “Opioid crisis: $71.5M in federal funds coming to Ohio,” Dayton Daily News, Sept. 19, 2018).

Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has committed another $1 billion in grants to helping states carryout their opioid epidemic strategies, the department announced Wednesday. In Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018, HHS awarded more than $1 billion in grants to states and territories through the State Targeted Opioid Response (STOR) Grants program. The legislative package passed by the Senate earlier this week reauthorizes $500 million per year from the 21st Century Cures Act for the grants. 

More than $55 million coming to Ohio will help to increase access to medication-assisted treatment using the three FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Another nearly $16 million will enable 55 community health centers, academic institutions and rural organizations in Ohio to expand access to integrated substance use disorder and mental health services.

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio recently launched the Addiction Evidence Project to provide policymakers and other stakeholders with the information they need to take stock of Ohio’s efforts to combat addiction, compare it to what the evidence says works best and determine where there are still gaps in the state’s response to the addiction crisis.