May 01, 2017

Senator Warren Helps Secure New Funding for Opioid Epidemic, Medical Research in Bipartisan Government Spending Deal

Bill to Include Additional $2B for NIH, $100M for Opioid Crisis After Warren-led Effort to Include Funding

Washington, DC - Senator Warren today applauded the inclusion of $100 million in new funding to address the opioid epidemic and $2 billion in new funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the bipartisan deal to fund the federal government. The funding comes after Senator Warren recently led a large group of senators calling for new opioid and research funding to be included in the spending bill.

"Sometimes the aggressive negotiations over the budget yield something good, and today's agreement to put additional money into substance use disorder treatment and into medical research is one of those times," Senator Warren said.  "Congress needs to do more on both fronts, but this is an important step toward providing relief to families struggling with the opioid epidemic and a boost to the researchers working on make lives better for each of us."

The bill announced Monday includes $34.1 billion in total NIH funding for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year, representing a $2 billion increase over the previous fiscal year. It also includes new opioid crisis funding to address a variety of critical needs, including helping states and local communities, providing services to prevent and treat substance use disorder in underserved areas, disseminating opioid prescribing guidelines and increasing surveillance of opioid overdoses, and funding the Department of Veterans Affairs' efforts to improve its opioid abuse treatment and prevention efforts.

Last week, during discussions about the bill to fund the federal government through September, Senator Warren led a coalition of 19 senators urging Senate and House leadership to focus on funding for the opioid crisis and medical research. "While past Congresses have made promises about providing states with additional funding to address the ongoing opioid crisis, appropriations legislation like the pending budget deal is where the bill comes due. Americans are counting on Congress to live up to its commitments by supporting funding for the priorities that matter most in their lives," they wrote.

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