We need more addiction treatment programs and less incarceration

Last year, more than three Virginians died, on average, to an opioid overdose every day.

While past drug epidemics have tended to hurt certain socio-economic groups more strongly than others, the opioid epidemic is devastating individuals from every race, gender, and economic background.

Fortunately, Virginia is beginning to wake up to the reality that we cannot incarcerate ourselves out of this crisis. As a public defender, many of my clients are the people we read about in the statistics – people accused of nothing more than using drugs, but sometimes facing years in prison.

Thankfully, we are recognizing that opioid use disorder (OUD) is not a personal failing where the user should be incarcerated, but rather a health disorder that must be met with treatment.

During the last legislative session, we took two important steps in fighting the opioid epidemic through treatment rather than incarceration. Most importantly, Democratic and Republican leaders in Richmond came together to expand Medicaid to cover 400,000 more Virginians.

Medicaid currently helps high-risk populations through the Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services initiative launched last year. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond already has documented positive results, including a 31 percent decline in emergency department visits for individuals who are receiving this assistance over the first five months of the program.

With more individuals getting insured due to Medicaid expansion, more people than ever before will have access to addiction recovery programs. Medicaid expansion will also bring them into the overall health care system in which they can get treatment for mental health, pain management or other issues that could put them at risk of developing OUD.

Second, the General Assembly took steps to increase OUD prevention measures. I was proud to vote for a bipartisan bill last session that ensures safer opioid dispensing practices. These new regulations, paired with increased education and awareness, will enable more patients and doctors to seek alternatives to opioids so that they can build better, safer pain management plans.

Luckily, not just the General Assembly is waking up to the reality that we need more treatment programs and less incarceration. Insurers are leading by monitoring usage and alerting prescribers and pharmacies when patients demonstrate risky prescription-fill patterns, enabling proactive interventions.

Healthcare stakeholders have also worked with the Virginia General Assembly to raise the reimbursement rates for OUD treatment. As a result, more patients receive treatment through a managed care system and find alternatives to opioids.

Many insurers are now including addiction services, ensuring greater access to pharmaceutical-based treatments, such as Suboxone, which has proved to be effective when used as part of a rehabilitation program. They are also lowering access barriers to naloxone, the overdose “antidote.”

In short, OUD prevention and treatment initiatives are gaining momentum across the commonwealth. The battle to protect our residents from addiction is far from over, but with the help of so many stakeholders, we’re developing, validating, and rolling out programs that will enable us to overcome this crisis and save lives.