Trump Declares The Opioid Crisis A “Public Health Emergency”
WASHINGTON D.C. - President Trump has declared that the opioid crisis is a public health emergency on Thursday afternoon because of his campaign promise and its increasing severity.
Trump told his Department of Health and Human Services to address the issue as a public health emergency. This has set a chain of reactions as this will bring more attention to the crisis and might bring more funds to combat the ongoing issue. The administration won’t be using any of its funds to help resolve the issue but it might allow some grant money to be used to fight the opioid issue in different ways and allow the ease of certain laws and regulations to properly address and attempt to fix the problem. Trump has also said that the government will use its advertising to prevent people from starting to use opioids. The same antidrug strategy that Nancy Reagan used in the 1980s during the crack epidemic.
Trump hasn’t requested any additional funds to help resolve the issue but he has made this a public health emergency, it allows his health secretary, Eric D. Hargan to allow some grant money to combat the opioid problem. The grant money would also pay for specialists to go into rural areas to help people as well as telemedicine services. Trump has also said that he will suspend a medicaid rule that does not allow funds to go toward rehabilitation centers. Trump hasn’t announced if this declaration will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to request that companies that makes Naloxone (a drug that counteracts the effect of a opioid overdose) to reduce their prices. Democrats are very underwhelmed by Trump’s announcement because he did not request additional funds that Democrats say shows a lack of seriousness in the issue.
Although Trump has declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency it is not the same as what he called for in July by saying he was going to declare the issue as a national emergency. If Trump had formally declared the emergency under the Stafford act it would have allowed him to use federal funds from Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Public Health Service Act and the funds would be chosen by Trump. An action that would been praised by congressional democrats. However, administration officials argued that declaring a national emergency wouldn’t have made a difference because the people that are associated with the public health emergency have a bigger impact on the problem. This is controversial because the public health emergency doesn't get federal funds like the national emergency but the administration officials have stated that they will ask Congress for money to combat the opioid crisis with the end of year spending budget.
Since Trump has made this declaration it has been praised by his opioid commission and the governor of New Jersey Chris Christie who was appointed to the commission. Christie has said that it’s a, “bold action” to address the opioid issue. Christie has also said that the opioid commission will make a comprehensive plan available to the public this week. There’s a question about what the plan will have since there is a lack of funding to really do anything to resolve the ongoing problem. Trump also hasn’t nominated any new drug czars since his last nomination withdrew because of his ties with the pharmaceutical companies with super PACS. There also isn't a secretary of the health and human services who would revise and create policies and find funding to fight the opioid crisis.
Trump has made a huge step in the right direction of fighting the tragic opioid crisis but did not fulfill what he promised in August by declaring the opioid crisis a national emergency. There is also the question about where the money to fight the opioid crisis is, so far the only money that will be available to fight the opioid issue is grant money. However, the administration’s officials have stated that they will request money from congress to fight the opioid crisis when they pass the end of year spending budget. Trump’s approach to resolve the issue is the same strategy antidrug campaign Nancy Reagan used in the 1980s which is the “Just Say No” campaign which would encourage people to not begin using opioids in the first place. This just shows how little power the government has when it comes to individual problems and how little they can do with the lack of funds.
