U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly Friday welcomed a $10.9 million federal grant to Indiana aimed at combatting the opioid epidemic. The grant comes in the second round of funding from the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which Donnelly pushed for and helped pass into law. Last year, Indiana also received $10.9 million in grant funding from this legislation. The Department of Health and Human Services grant will be administered by the State of Indiana, which will make the determinations on funding for specific programs.
Donnelly said, “This grant funding is another infusion of much-needed resources to help fund prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in Indiana as we attack the opioid epidemic from every angle. I’m proud to have pushed for and helped pass the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act that facilitated this grant and will continue fighting for our state to have the resources we need to address this public health crisis.”
Over the last several years, Donnelly has led the fight in the Senate for increased federal resources to combat the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment, and recovery services:
- A number of measures that Donnelly either introduced or supported to combat the opioid abuse epidemic were included in the bipartisan government funding bill that became law last month.
o The bill included funds to support the addiction treatment workforce through National Health Service Corps, which Donnelly advocated for as part of his Strengthening the Addiction Treatment Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). That funding will help recruit more substance use disorder providers to serve in underserved communities.
o The bill also included $4 billion in funds to combat the epidemic through prevention, treatment and recovery programs, which Donnelly has repeatedly supported, including in February’s bipartisan budget agreement.
- In February, Donnelly welcomed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approval of Indiana’s Medicaid waiver extension application. The approval will allow Indiana to enhance HIP with up to $80 million in annual federal funding to support efforts to address the opioid crisis.
- In November 2017, Donnelly’s bipartisan bill to help address veterans’ opioid abuse was signed into law by President Trump.
- In 2016, several of Donnelly’s provisions were signed into law that would expand prevention and treatment programs.
