White House releases budget plan to curb opioid overdose

President Barack Obama announced on February 2 a two-pronged approach to address the "opioid overdose epidemic."

The president's fiscal year 2017 budget will include $1 billion in new, mandatory funding that will expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use, according to a White House press release. Helping individuals with an opioid use disorder seek, complete, and sustain treatment recovery is the focus of this portion of the funding.

The second aspect of the funding is the inclusion of about $500 million, an increase of more than $90 million from the previous year, to expand state-level prescription drug overdose prevention strategies, increase the availability of medication-assisted treatment programs, improve access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, and support targeted enforcement activities.

Some of the funding will go specifically to rural areas. The rates of overdose and opioid use are "particularly high" in these areas, according to the White House.

For more information, see the White House's fact sheet.