“I realize this is one step in the process. This conversation is going to continue for a long time,”said House Finance Committee Chairman Ryan Smith, R-Bidwell.
March 2017: Ohio sets one-week limit on pain killers
RELATED: 2016 set for record year for overdose deaths
The program includes mandating that insurance companies cover tele-medicine for mental health services so that patients in under-served areas have access to counseling, establishing ‘mental health’ courts similar to drug courts, allocating more money to child protective services and kinship care to help kids who lose parents to drug addiction, spending $20 million to build new treatment facilities and allocating $9 million for regional detox centers.
What? There are local elections on Tuesday, find out what's on your ballot. https://t.co/i0OysGTSrk pic.twitter.com/xjkdp3e4mt
— Ohio_Politics (@Ohio_Politics) April 26, 2017
Despite investing almost $1 billion a year to fight drug abuse and addiction — much of it through expanded Medicaid — accidental overdoses in Ohio claimed 3,050 lives in Ohio in 2015, up 20.5 percent over 2014.
Lawmakers are also seeking to require driver’s education classes include instruction on drug abuse, the science of addiction and the effect of psychoactive substances while driving.
About the Author