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WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,662 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to preventable drug and alcohol related deaths in 2014; and,
WHEREAS, one in four families is directly affected by a family member with an alcohol or drug problem; and,
WHEREAS, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2012, untreated addiction costs the United States an estimated $428 billion each year in loss of productivity, alcohol and drug related illnesses and health care, crashes, incarcerations, court and other enforcement provisions; and,
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's share of the annual cost of untreated addiction is an estimated $21 billion per year; and,
WHEREAS, according to a 1993 report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, one in every five dollars spent by Medicaid in hospitals is attributable to untreated drug and alcohol addiction; and,
WHEREAS, according to a 1995 report by the National Institute of Justice, 80% to 90% of all crime in the United States is related to drug or alcohol addiction; and,
WHEREAS, according to the National Survey of Substance Abuse in 2013, 88% of patients receiving inpatient addiction treatment receive the treatment in a residential, nonhospital setting; and,
WHEREAS, also in 2013, 70% of patients receiving addiction treatment in residential settings remained there for more than 30 days; and,
WHEREAS, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will limit Federal Medicaid match to 15 days a month; and,
WHEREAS, this rule will severely damage the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's ability to address the heroin and opioid addiction epidemic; and,
WHEREAS, the new rule will severely reduce access to residential treatment for people who are poor, for pregnant addicted women and women with dependent children and for low-level drug offenders coming out of jails and prisons; and,
WHEREAS, in 2016, 29 United States Senator...
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