Briefly Noted

Abstract

There is still a huge treatment gap, with millions of Americans needing but not receiving help for a substance use disorder (SUD). What is needed is an Opioid and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Fund, according to the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH). Such a fund would be created by Congress and “would allow states to forge public‐private partnerships that deliver SUD treatment for patients when existing public and private payers do not — or cannot — cover that treatment,” according to the NABH proposal, which was distributed on Capitol Hill last spring. Funds from the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant, as well as the Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grants, are critical to the public safety net, but these finances are “limited” and “not always the most effective approach to engage public‐private partnerships,” according to the NABH proposal. The STR funds flowing to states are “not expanding access quickly enough to treatment services,” said the NABH. Meanwhile, private‐sector health systems have empty beds and slots — “untapped capacity,” in the words of NABH, adding, “These systems are poised to provide services immediately.”