Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5327, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5327, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act.

More than 21 million individuals in this country need substance abuse treatment, but we know there are numerous barriers to accessing help for substance abuse disorder.

One of the many barriers that exists is the gap in healthcare providers available to treat opioid use disorder.

Worsening the situation, our current healthcare system and the methods of treating substance abuse disorders is often fragmented, leading to incomplete patient care.

Without a standardized way of approaching screening or treatment for opioid use disorder, treatment centers use a range of methods to manage opioid use disorder, some are more successful than others.

H.R. 5327, bipartisan legislation which would require SAMHSA to provide grants to develop comprehensive opioid recovery centers will begin to address some of the deficits in opioid use disorder care.

These centers will provide outreach to help educate the communities about opioid and other substance use disorders, assist with coordination of treatment, and offer recovery activities.

The comprehensive opioid recovery centers will use best practices, to deliver integrated opioid use disorder care, giving other treatment centers a model to look towards, improving the quality of OUD treatment.

Improving access to evidence-based substance use disorder treatments is critical for ensuring patients get the care that they need.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green), who is the ranking member of our Health Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Ben Ray Lujan), who is one of the Democratic sponsors.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5327, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act.

The opioid epidemic is harming Americans in communities throughout our great country, including my hometown of Houston, Texas. In 2016 alone, over 42,000 Americans died due to an opioid-related overdose, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More must be done to give Americans access to treatment and the full continuum of care they need to recover from substance abuse and live a full and healthy life.

For these reasons, I was proud to introduce the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act with Representatives Brett Guthrie, Ben Ray Lujan, and Larry Bucshon in March.

This legislation will fund the designated treatment centers where Americans suffering from opioid abuse can receive comprehensive patient-centered care. Our bill would allow designated treatment centers to provide a wider variety of treatment options tailored to the specific needs of its clients.

Covered services under this bill would include mental health, medication-assisted treatment, counseling, recovery housing, peer support, and job training and placement to support reintegration into the workforce. These wraparound services have been shown to help many Americans who have successfully overcome opioid addiction. It is our intention that this bill will help develop world-class models for treatment and recovery that can be duplicated nationwide.

I would like to thank Congressmen Guthrie, Lujan, and Bucshon for their hard work on this bill. I would also like to thank our ranking member, Frank Pallone, and our chair, Greg Walden, for their support of our bill and their assistance moving this legislation through committee and on to the House floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and vote in support of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5327) to amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to create comprehensive opioid recovery centers, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 5327, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act. This legislation will help support the establishment of Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers to serve as models for comprehensive treatment and recovery. These centers will provide substance use disorder patients with a wide range of treatment options for integrated care. By treating the whole person and utilizing the full range of FDA-approved medications and evidence- based treatments, these centers will dramatically improve the outcomes for individuals with substance use disorder and serve as models for evidence-based treatment across the country.

I would like to thank the vice chairman of the Health Subcommittee Vice Chairman Brett Guthrie, Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Gene Green, and Representatives Larry Bucshon and Ben Ray Lujan for leading this important initiative.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Guthrie and Dr. Bucshon for working with myself and Mr. Gene Green of Texas on this bill.

I rise today in support of the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act. This bill would fund at least 10 comprehensive opioid centers across America. These centers will focus on community engagement, prevention, treatment, and also recovery services.

They can be newly established centers or can build upon existing infrastructure. They will be located in areas hit hardest by this epidemic, and they will serve those who need help the most.

Since 2008, New Mexico has had one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in the country. According to the CDC, New Mexico had the third highest drug overdose death rate in the Nation in 2013 and the second highest in 2014.

Almost every county in New Mexico has a higher rate than the national average. In some of the most hard-hit New Mexico counties, the overdose death rates were more than five times the national rate.

Now, we know 10 centers across 50 States will not solve this problem. Still, we hope that these centers can stand as examples for what substance use disorder facilities could strive to be.

I hope that these comprehensive centers will give families hope, researchers data, and communities across this country the resources that they so desperately need.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act, a bipartisan bill that will establish treatment centers that offer a full range of treatment for people suffering from opioid use disorder.

Over the past several months, I have been holding public events in each of the 21 counties in my district. In every county I continue to hear about the awful effects of our Nation's opioid crisis. Each story is a little different, but they are all heart-wrenching due to the deadly effects of opioid use disorder and addiction.

Right now, most patients are going to the center that is most convenient to them, but those centers might offer only one type of treatment. What if that treatment doesn't work for that person?

That is why I introduced the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act, so that people can show up at one facility and have full wraparound treatment services and succeed in beating addiction.

I want to especially thank my friends, Congressman Gene Green, Congressman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, and Larry Bucshon of Indiana for introducing this bill with me. This is a bipartisan bill. It will make a difference in people's lives, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.