Families Say Trump’s Budget Cuts Run Counter to His Promises to Battle Addiction

Family members of young people who have struggled with or died from opioid addiction say President Trump’s budget proposal, which would reduce funding for addiction treatment, runs counter to his promises to help solve the problem, the Associated Press reports.

The proposed budget would shrink spending for Medicaid, which covers an estimated three in 10 adults with opioid addiction. The budget is unlikely to be approved as written, the article notes.

The Republican health care bill passed by the House would allow states to weaken a requirement that private insurance cover addiction treatment. The Congressional Budget Office estimates a patient’s cost of substance abuse treatment could increase by thousands of dollars a year in states that have chosen to reduce coverage requirements.

“Inside I’m screaming,” Sandra Chavez of Sacramento, California, who lost her 24-year-old son, Jeffrey, to a blood infection related to his injection drug use, told the AP. “We’re going backward with Donald Trump’s plan.”