Proposed CARE Act Funding: $4B to states; $2.7B for hard hit local governments; $1.8B for research; $1B for expanded services; $500M for naloxone; and $400M for CDC.

Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings in partnership with Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is planning to introduce the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act or CARE Act. Modeled after the 1990’s Ryan White Act, the CARE Act would provide $10 billion in annual federal funding to state and local government to tackle the opioid crisis.

As reported by The Baltimore Sun:

Cummings and Warren say the overdose epidemic must be dealt with in the same way the health crises of the past were. The Ryan White Act of 1990, they say, helped turn around the AIDS crisis and reduced deaths dramatically.

…

Cummings said he and Warren got the idea to fund a massive public health campaign against opioids from Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen and her staff, who pitched the lawmakers on the need for increased funding.

“We have been calling for the same thing all along: Sustained funding,” Wen said. “It needs to be a proportional amount to the size of the epidemic. The funding needs to be given directly to the highest-need jurisdictions.”

Read the full article in The Baltimore Sun to learn more.