Pennsylvania’s opioid epidemic was a recurring theme during a two-hour hearing this week between lawmakers and representatives of the commonwealth’s Department of Health.
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The House Appropriations Committee fielded questions at a number of officials, including Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and Drug and Alcohol Secretary Jennifer Smith. Lawmakers have been holding hearings in recent weeks as they comb through Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal.
Pennsylvania made headlines in 2017 when it was ranked as one of the highest states in the country for deaths linked to opioid-related overdoses.
Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention peg the number of Pennsylvania deaths in 2017 at 44.3 for every 100,000 persons. By comparison, the national average that year was 21.7 deaths for every 100,000 persons.
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Figures from 2018 are still pending, Levine said at Monday’s hearing. She conceded more work is still needed, but said the tide is beginning to turn.
“We are confident we will see a decline, or at least a plateau, in 2018 overdose deaths for opioids,” Levine said. “But there is no quick fix, and it’s going to take a number of years.”
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Several legislators on the committee said they were concerned with the allotment of funding proposed to eradicate opioid-related overdoses and deaths.
Rep. Stephen McCarter, D-Glenside, said he believes the Department of Health needs to continue allocating resources to the epidemic.
“This crisis – it’s still growing,” McCarter said. “It’s not going away.”
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Smith said the commonwealth has rigorously tapped federal resources, including grants in the amount of $110 million, for a range of opioid-related efforts, including purchasing naloxone, the medication used to reverse the affects of opioid-related overdoses.
While he lauded Smith’s efforts to use federal funds, McCarter said he believes Pennsylvania should be taking more of an active role in providing some of its own funding.
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“You put your money where your mouth is,” McCarter said. “We’ve got to do more.”
Rep. Martina White, R-Philadelphia, shared similar concerns about the reliance on federal dollars to address the epidemic. White made her remarks as Levine discussed the department’s command centers as an additional mechanism to address the epidemic.
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“We have to recognize that (the federal money) won’t be there in the future,” White said.
In response, Levine said in-house resources have been allocated toward the command centers.
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The hot-button topic of legalizing marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, also was discussed briefly during the hearing, particularly in relation to the opioid epidemic.
Levine said evidence does not correlate marijuana use to opioids.
“The crisis we’re seeing right now has a different origin,” Levine said, referring to heroin.
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The state’s backlog in issuing birth and death certificates also was discussed briefly during the hearing.
Last year, Levine sought additional funding to address the delay in issuing certificates and received $2.35 million to cut down on the wait times, which spiked at 35 weeks.
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“Now it’s been one week – maybe two, if you do it by mail,” Levine said of the turnaround time for issuing certificates.
