HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, on Wednesday said the agency will offer more than $70 million in grants designed to curb rates of opioid-related deaths and expand access to treatment for opioid addiction.
HHS will allocate the funds over multiple years. The grants will address the deadly drug epidemic on three fronts:
- Delivering up to $28 million to five grantees to improve access to medication-assisted treatment for addiction, which includes behavioral health therapy
- Making $41.7 million over 4 years available to approximately 30 grantees to train first-responders and other members of community sectors that may encounter an overdose on administering overdose reversal products
- Providing up to $1 million over 5 years to one grantee to expand the availability of opioid overdose reversal medications in the healthcare setting
"We are committed to bringing everything the federal government has to bear on this health crisis," said Dr. Price. "The purpose of these grants is to empower the heroes in this fight — the men and women on the forefront of supporting prevention, treatment and recovery initiatives in their communities."
States will be eligible for the new funds, along with $485 million in grants rolled out in April as part of the 21st Century Cures Act to fund evidence-based prevention and treatment initiatives to combat opioid addiction.
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