Both of Ohio’s U.S. Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill they say will help combat the opioid abuse problems in the Buckeye State.
Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown say their bill, the Medicaid CARE Act, would raise the cap on beds covered by Medicaid at residential treatment facilities from 16 to 40.
Brown says that means more Ohioans who need treatment for drug addiction can get it.
“We think that will help immensely," Brown says. "It will more than double the number of people who can be treated, in-patient, with beds.”
Brown says the caps were put in place years ago, before the opioid crisis, to save Medicaid dollars. Both senators say the lack of available beds is the number one barrier to getting addicted people on the path to recovery.
Ohio is among the top states in the number of per capita opioid-related deaths.
