A bill aimed at addressing the country’s opioid addiction crisis is filled with provisions supported by members of both parties in Congress, but Democrats are threatening to block passage of the legislation unless Republicans agree to add more funding for treatment initiatives in the final draft.

The bill supported by Republican leadership includes only $85 million for treatment programs over the next five years. Democrats say that figure should be increased more than elevenfold, to $940 million.

Just a few months ago, when the Senate passed the original incarnation of the bill, Democrats unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to increased funding to $600 million. That proposal was supported by several moderate Republicans in the midst of tough reelection battles this fall, but was not embraced by GOP leadership.

Both the Senate and House passed similar bills that a joint committee is now in the process of refining into a single bill that will have to be approved by both chambers again.

Suffice it to say, it is highly unlikely that the same Republicans who opposed the $600 million proposal in the Senate are now going to accept the $940 million proposal.

But if they unite in the Senate, Democrats could block the bill’s passage through a filibuster. They are ostensibly calculating that the threat will either force Republicans to accept greater funding or will doom the bill, and thus deny vulnerable Republican senators who are campaigning on the issue of opioid treatment, notably Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Rob Portman of Ohio, from touting a major accomplishment on the issue.

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, a recovering addict and the son of former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, urged leaders of his party to pass whatever bill could be passed, even if much more funding is ultimately necessary.

“How can we just let a number of people die from overdoses just so we can make a political point that Republicans are wrong on funding?” Kennedy told The New York Times.

The Obama administration has made clear that it believes more funding is needed, but it has not signaled whether insufficient funding would prompt a veto from the president.

Michael P. Botticelli, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told The Times, “without additional funding and without treatment funding, we’re not going to make a dent in this issue.”

On Tuesday, the Obama administration also unveiled a new rule that will allow physicians to treat three times as many patients with buprenorphine, the medication used for opioid addiction.

Instant Insights /

Democrats threaten filibuster over opioid addiction funding

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