Federal cuts threaten to undo Kentucky's hard-won progress on addiction and recovery
Kentucky distributed 170,000 doses of Narcan last year, contributing to the state's continued decline in fatal overdoses. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
As the White House and Congress weigh difficult budget decisions, Kentuckians are watching closely, especially those of us who work to address the opioid and overdose epidemic. Proposed federal cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) threaten to dismantle the programs responsible for a 30% reduction in overdose deaths in Kentucky over the past year.
On May 1, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that overdose deaths in the commonwealth decreased for the third year in a row, with a 30.2% decrease in 2024 over the previous year.
Fatal overdoses decreased among Black Kentucky residents from 271 in 2023 to 170 in 2024 — a 37.3% decrease that reversed a recent trend.
According to the 2024 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report, 1,410 Kentuckians lost their lives last year to a drug overdose.
In 2023, Kentucky reported a 9.8% decrease compared with 2022. In 2022, there was a decrease of 2.5% from 2021, marking the first year Kentucky saw a decrease in overdose deaths since 2018. By working together, the governor said, Kentucky is saving lives. He credited the state's continued decline in overdose deaths to several factors including:
More than $29.7 million was distributed in grant and pass-through funding from the Office of Drug Control Policy;
170,000 doses of Narcan were distributed;
84 syringe exchange program sites served 27,799 unique participants;
More than 17,390 Kentuckians received addiction treatment paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort;
More than 17,980 Kentuckians received recovery services (housing assistance, employment services, transportation, basic need services, etc.) in their community paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort;
19 Kentuckians sought treatment through the Kentucky State Police Angel Initiative;
More than 3,320 incoming calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center with more than 14,080 outgoing follow up calls,
And 21 counties are now certified as Recovery Ready Communities representing nearly 1.5 million Kentuckians.
As the leaders of People Advocating Recovery and the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, we have seen the impact of this crisis firsthand — and we have seen the transformative impact of smart investments from public safety and recovery organizations working hand in hand for overdose prevention, treatment and recovery.
Let us be clear: we strongly support responsible governance. Government efficiency, fiscal discipline and strategic workforce development are essential for a thriving nation. But these proposed cuts, particularly to frontline recovery and public health services, will not achieve those outcomes; they will undermine them.
The proposed restructuring of HHS would eliminate approximately 20,000 federal jobs within that agency, including layoffs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These are the very institutions leading our nation's response to addiction and mental health. Weakening them now is like pulling fire crews off duty during wildfire season, while the fire is still smoldering.
Equally alarming are reports that Congress is weighing as much as $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade. These cuts would devastate the already strained safety net especially in rural areas, like Appalachia, leading to hospital closures, spikes in ER use and inevitably increased incarceration of people with untreated behavioral health needs.
Cutting essential recovery infrastructure is not a pathway to economic stability. In fact, it threatens the very workforce development efforts policymakers want to prioritize. We cannot grow the economy by sidelining millions of Americans who are in or seeking recovery in the midst of this crisis. Instead, we must invest in them. When people recover, they return to work, support their families, contribute to their communities and economy.
This is not the time to abandon our efforts to end this deadly public health crisis. Now is the time to reaffirm our promise to curb addiction, save families and children, and erode this deadly disease once and for all. Kentucky and the nation have made great progress, it's time we turn that progress into prosperity for all and make recovery a national priority.
Tara Hyde, left, is CEO of Pe
ople Advocating Recovery, a nonprofit based in Louisville that works to eliminate barriers to recovery from substance abuse disorder.
Van Ingram is the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
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