Gov. Inslee wants $30 million to combat opioid epidemic

Vowing that Washington State will not "surrender [in] the battle against opioid abuse,” Gov. Jay Inslee is asking for $30 million in new spending to confront the opioid epidemic in the state.

The money would be spread among programs in clinics at residential treatment centers, needle exchanges, jails and prisons.

The money is part of the governor's new budget request for 2019 to 2021.

“With so many people already addicted to these powerful drugs, we need to know that we have to up our game,” Inslee said.

The biggest chunk of the funding request is to help people on Medicaid get off drugs or avoid getting on them in the first place.

The proposal includes $10.2 million to cover chiropractic care for back pain and $9.1 million, about a third of the new funding, for peer support counselors for addicted people.

“It’s really helpful to have someone who's gone through the experience of addiction and into recovery, and have that person encourage the folks that are looking to recovery now,” said Michael Langer, an acting assistant director at the Health Care Authority, of peer support.

Medicaid may be able to cover peer advisers for people in treatment for substance use disorders by July 1, 2019, Langer added.

Plenty of evidence supports alternatives to opioids to treat chronic and acute pain, including back pain, but Medicaid doesn’t pay for alternative therapies such as chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, and yoga, said Charissa Fotinos, deputy chief medical officer of the Washington State Health Care Authority.

The new funding focuses on back pain because it’s so common, Fotinos said. Future funding requests may cover other treatments.

The soonest people with back pain can expect to chiropractic care to be covered by Medicaid is July 2020, but it could take as long as January 2021, Fotinos said.

The governor’s request also includes $101,000 to supply fentanyl test strips to needle exchanges, so drug users can test their drugs for the powerful opiate and avoid taking it.

Overdose deaths from fentanyl have spiked 69 percent across the state this year, killing 81 people as of the beginning of December.

The governor is seeking new funding for prisons and jails, including close to half a million dollars for machines to screen incoming mail at prisons for drugs and contraband.

Inslee also wants to expand King County’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, known as LEAD, to other jurisdictions, with $5.2 million in proposed funding. The program helps low-level drug and prostitution offenders by offering social services rather than imposing penalties through criminal court and jail

Some of these services will take months, if not over a year, to materialize. The funding is just a proposal right now, and must be approved by legislature next year before it can flow to these programs.