Think Progress:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveiled her plan to combat substance and alcohol abuse earlier this week, penning an 800-word op-ed that appeared in the New Hampshire Union Leader, a newspaper based in a region reeling from a surge in heroin overdoses. Clinton said conversations with concerned voters on the campaign trail inspired her latest proposal.
If implemented, the former Secretary of State’s $10 billion plan would increase funding for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant by 25 percent and enforce insurance parity laws so that Medicare and Medicaid patients who enter rehabilitation programs could be reimbursed more easily. States would also receive money to implement plans of their own that encourage collaboration between public health agencies and law enforcement officials in the distribution of naloxone in cases of overdose. Additionally, the federal government would follow in the steps of some local and state agencies, diverting criminal justice resources toward treatment.
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