Daines’ Votes Make Fighting the Opioid Crisis “Much, Much Harder”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Daines’ Votes Make Fighting the Opioid Crisis “Much, Much Harder”

Helena, MT – A new report shows that drug overdoses have sky-rocketed across the nation since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. While Senator Steve Daines often pays lip service to fighting the opioid epidemic, he remains dead-set on gutting the Affordable Care Act – the very law that paved the way for Montana’s Medicaid expansion — even in the middle of a pandemic.

Since Governor Bullock signed the bipartisan Medicaid expansion into law in 2015, Montanans’ access to substance use treatment has improved. A Montana district court judge overseeing drug treatment for veterans deemed Medicaid expansion “absolutely critical.” The Billings Gazette noted that defunding Medicaid would make addressing the opioid crisis “much, much harder.”

While Daines says one thing in Montana, back in Washington, he has voted repeatedly against funding to directly address this epidemic, including opposing $600 million in funding for opioid prevention and treatment programs, and voting against a bill which included $4.65 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis.

These votes once again highlight Dishonest Daines’ tendency to make promises to Montanans, then break them in Washington D.C.

“The facts are clear: Medicaid expansion is essential to fighting the opioid crisis here in Montana,” said MDP Communications Advisor Christina Wilkes. “Yet, Daines’ never-ending quest to gut Montanans’ health care access knows no bounds. Daines may claim he’s committed to fighting the opioid epidemic, but his record shows otherwise.”

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