No matter what he says or tries to take credit for, Rep. Andy Barr has failed Central Kentucky when it comes to tackling the opioid crisis.
Barr’s vote for the House health care repeal bill last year destroyed any credibility he has to claim that he is prioritizing the best interests of Kentuckians fighting addiction.
Here are some headlines that Barr ignored while continuing to pursue his reckless, partisan health care agenda…
KY Policy Blog: House Health Repeal Plan Would Worsen Kentucky’s Drug Problems
Lexington Herald-Leader: Obamacare repeal would gut opioid treatment gains in Kentucky, study finds
Washington Post: GOP health-care bill would drop addiction treatment mandate covering 1.3 million Americans
42,600 Kentuckians in Barr’s district alone would have lost their health insurance coverage if Barr had his way, including nearly 18,000 who had been covered under the state’s expansion of Medicaid. Medicaid pays for 44% of medication-assisted opioid treatment in Kentucky.
Substance abuse treatment would have no longer been considered an essential health benefit, meaning that even Kentuckians who held on to their insurance may have no longer been covered for life-saving addiction treatment. In the first two years of this requirement being implemented, there was a 700% increase in alcohol and drug treatment utilization for those receiving coverage from Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion.
Here’s how the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy summed it up: “The AHCA would inevitably worsen the severe addiction problems our state is already grappling with. Given that Kentucky’s drug problems are becoming even more challenging as overdose deaths related to the powerful opiates fentanyl and carfentanil are on the rise, we’d be likely left even worse off than before the ACA.”
“The truth of the matter is that if Rep. Andy Barr had his way, the opioid crisis in Kentucky would be even worse than it already is and fewer of his constituents would have access to the life-saving treatment they so desperately need.” – DCCC spokesperson Jacob Peters