美国国家公共电台 NPR States Seek More Federal Funding For Opioid Treatment, Not More Promises

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump¹ is going to try to refocus on opioids today. He's gathering² Cabinet members, health experts and advocates for what's being billed as a White House summit on the opioid crisis. President Trump declared opioids a public health emergency back in October, and that brought more attention to state anti-drug programs, but not federal money. Congress recently authorized³ new funds, but those dollars aren't flowing yet, and many states are struggling. In a moment, we're going to hear how all this is affecting the state of Colorado. But first, Jackie Fortier from StateImpact Oklahoma reports that treatment programs there are bracing⁴ for budget cuts.

JACKIE FORTIER: The Oklahoma agency in charge of substance abuse needs to cut more than $2 million from this fiscal⁵ year's budget, and that has opioid treatment providers on edge.

RANDY TATE: Treatment dollars are scarce.

FORTIER: That's Randy Tate. He's the president of the Oklahoma Behavioral Health Association, which represents addiction⁶ treatment providers. He says it's like dominoes - cut state funding for treatment, and federal safety net programs feel the strain.

TATE: Any cuts to our overall contract really diminish our ability to provide the case management necessary to advocate for homes, food, shelter, clothing, primary health care and all the other things that someone needs to really be successful at tackling their addiction.

FORTIER: In just three years, the agency in charge of funding opioid treatment has seen more than $27 million chipped away from its budget. That's due to low oil prices, slashed⁷ state taxes and legislative⁸ gridlock. Jeff Dismukes, with the state department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, says the already-lean agency has few cost-cutting options left.

JEFF DISMUKES: We always cut first to administration, but there's a point where you just can't cut that anymore.

FORTIER: The agency may push payments to treatment providers into July, and Tate says that could be devastating⁹.

TATE: Some very thinly financed small, rural providers probably are at risk of going out of business entirely¹⁰.

FORTIER: Getting treatment providers to open up shop in rural areas is really hard even in good times. And more financial uncertainty¹¹ will make it worse. In the meantime, just 10 percent of Oklahomans who need addiction treatment are getting it. For NPR News, I'm Jackie Fortier in Norman, Okla.

JOHN DALEY, BYLINE¹²: And I'm John Daley in Denver. That 1-in-10 statistic¹³ is similar in Colorado, and as 2018 began, Colorado's runaway¹⁴ opioid crisis got worse. The state's largest drug and alcohol treatment provider, Arapahoe House, shut its doors. Denise Vincioni, who directs another treatment center, says other facilities have scrambled¹⁶ to take on new patients.

DENISE VINCIONI: It's always difficult to get somebody in residential¹⁷. It's just going to enhance that problem.

DALEY: Arapahoe House provided recovery treatment to 5,000 people a year. Most of its clients were on Medicaid. Autumn Haggard-Wolfe, a two-time Arapahoe House patient, now in recovery, worries the closing will have dire¹⁵ consequences, especially for people like her who needed inpatient care.

AUTUMN HAGGARD-WOLFE: I feel like the only other option right now for - in therapy would be jail for people, and people die in there from withdrawing.

DALEY: Arapahoe House's CEO blamed the closure on the high cost of care and poor government reimbursement¹⁸ for services. Lawmaker Brittany Pettersen is a Democrat¹⁹ whose mother battled addiction. She says treatment centers rely on a crazy quilt of funding sources and are chronically²⁰ underfunded, often leaving people with no treatment options.

BRITTANY PETTERSEN: We have a huge gap in Colorado, and that was before Arapahoe House closed.

DALEY: She's pushing legislation to increase funding. But to get tens of millions in federal matching funds, lawmakers need to OK at least $34 million a year in new spending. It may not happen. Even if it does, Pettersen says...

PETTERSEN: It's going to take a lot to climb out of where we are.

DALEY: Colorado did get new federal funds to fight the opioid crisis last year, but it was just $8 million a year for two years, divvied up among a long list of programs. For NPR News, I'm John Daley.

MARTIN: That story is part of a reporting partnership²¹ with Kaiser Health News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

4 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

7 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

13 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

14 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

15 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

16 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

18 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

19 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

20 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

21 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。