mental health and addiction funding on the federal chopping block : NPR

The state and county public health sectors and nonprofits are shaking after the Trump administration announced the sudden cancellation and cancellation of Covid-era funding of roughly $11.4 billion for grants related to addiction, mental health and other programs.

“This is cutting things off midway while people are actually working,” said Keith Humphries, an addiction policy researcher at Stanford University, a volunteer who works in reducing harm with addicted people. He warned that the move could cause layoffs and disruptions in treatment.

“Service is dropped in the middle. The clinic is closed. It’s a cruel way to make these cuts,” Humphreys said.

Federal grant funding was scheduled to take place until September 2025. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement sent to NPR that it would make sense to freeze the program immediately.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is over. HHS will not waste billions of taxpayer dollars in response to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans have been moving for years,” he added that the Trump administration will focus funds on the “chronic disease epidemic” in America.

Drug overdose associated with fentanyl and other substances have been declining sharply in recent years, thanks to a surge in addiction treatment funds during the Biden administration. But street drugs kill more than 84,000 people in the United States each year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Donald Trump has made fentanyl the highest concern during his administration’s opening week and extended the emergency declaration related to a strong street opioid.

But his team also quickly cut the number of federal researchers focused on addiction, and Trump has forgiven the technological mogul convicted of building a “dark web” platform used to exchange illegal drugs.

The Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services is being integrated into a new organization called Healthy America (AHA) as part of the HHS restructuring, which is expected to eliminate 20,000 federal employees.

The move to withdraw funds, including grants for addiction care, drew criticism from experts who warned that reducing overdose deaths would progress.

“Doge is currently actively cutting funds aimed at reducing deaths from nail overdose Back money from the state,” Georgetown University drug policy expert Regina Label served in the Biden administration. Social media posts. “Doge declares victory as overdose deaths reach over 80,000 per year?”

In a statement sent to NPR, a spokesman for Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said of the cut “we are waiting for solid details before we comment.”

Some Democratic leaders across the United States have condemned the move.

“Trading this funding congressional funding provided will undermine our ability to protect families from infections such as measles and avian flu and help people receive the mental health care they need and substance use treatment,” said Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.

She said a $160 million loss in federal funds designated for use in her state could cost “more than 200 jobs” in public and non-profit health agencies.

New York Gov. Kathy Hokle said her state would lose about $300 million in funding. Many of them were assigned to rural county health departments.

“As New York faces an ongoing opioid epidemic, multiple confirmed cases of measles, and a continuing mental health crisis, these cuts will be devastating,” Hochul said. “No state in this country has the resources to fill in the massive federal funding cuts.”

A spokesman for the Colorado Department of Behavioral Health said her state’s federal cuts could impact 60 programs, putting patients at risk.

“So many times these are lifesaving programs and services, and we are concerned about the happiness of those who have come to rely on this support,” spokeswoman Ally Elliott said. I wrote this in an email to Colorado Public Radio.

In a statement to the NPR, HHS officials downplayed the impact of the cuts, saying most grants have withdrawn old pandemic-related programs, including efforts to “address Covid-19 health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minorities.”

San Francisco addiction activist Tom Wolf said he was critical of his democratic approach to dealing with the overdose crisis and continues to support Trump’s policy ideas widely.

“There’s a certain aspect to what he’s doing. I think it’s good. For me, it’s about getting things done,” Wolf said.

However, he also expressed concern about the pace of change and the risk that effective addiction treatment programs could be refunded when tens of thousands of people in the United States are dying from a fatal overdose each year.

“Has they stopped looking at the effectiveness of those programs?” Wolf said.

The addiction expert told NPR that he endures what many believe will deeply cut Medicaid funds.

“It’s very difficult to imagine a scenario other than a severely severed Medicaid cut through looking at the budget framework created by Republicans,” said Keith Humphries of Stanford. “That’s a scary outlook. It’s extremely painful for families facing addiction.”