I think that's at a minimum. Honestly, when we were fighting the AIDS epidemic, which was claiming 53,000 lives, this is claiming 64,000 lives, we were spending the equivalent of $24 billion with today's dollars.
Kennedy emphasizes the need for significant federal funding to combat the opioid crisis.
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We have so underfunded this system for so long, why is it a big surprise that we don't have enough providers in the field?
If this were any other issue we would move heaven and Earth to deal with it. In COVID we responded right away, everybody inoculation, everybody out there. The longest impact of COVID is going to be mental health, and yet, we don't treat it.
We ought to be encouraging people in this country to seek mental health. That should not be a disqualifying factor.