President Obama is seeking an additional $1.1 billion in his FY17 budget request to expand access and fund heroin and opioid drug treatment programs.

As reported in USA Today:

This funding includes:

• $920 million to support cooperative agreements with states to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders. States will receive funds based on the severity of the epidemic and their strategy to respond to it.  States can use these funds to expand treatment capacity and make services more affordable.

• $50 million in National Health Service Corps funding to expand access to about 700 substance use treatment providers. including medication-assisted treatment, in areas across the country most in need of mental health treatment.

• $30 million to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment programs using medication-assisted treatment and help identify opportunities to improve treatment for patients with opioid use disorders.

The budget also includes about $500 million — an increase of more than $90 million — to build on efforts at the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to expand state prescription overdose prevention strategies, increase the availability of medication-assisted treatment programs, improve access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, and support enforcement activities. Part of the funding is directed specifically to rural areas. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, who is from West Virginia, said the issue is a top priority of hers as her state is one of the most hard hit by drug abuse.

For more information read the full article in USA Today.