Trump âs opioid announcement is as empty as his Trump U promises
President Trump  declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency on Oct. 26. Here are the highlights from  his  speech. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
 President Trump  is and will always be a carnival barker  a snake-oil salesman  a flim-flam artist who dresses up a lot of nothing in showy garb.  He âs gotten people to buy  his  crummy steaks  stay in gaudy hotels and pay thousands of dollars for  Trump U.  With that in mind  you can fully appreciate  his  announcement on opioids on Thursday.
 President Trump  said Thursday that the opioid epidemic â which is killing more than 100 people each day â is the âworst drug crisis in American historyâ and said  his  administration is declaring it a public health emergency  pledging the nationâs full resolve in overcoming it. . . . With  Trumpâs  declaration  the federal government will waive some regulations  give states more flexibility in how they use federal funds and expand the use of telemedicine treatment  according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on Thursday morning.
But  the president  stopped short of declaring a more sweeping national state of emergency that would have given states access to funding from the federal Disaster Relief Fund  just as they would have had following a tornado or hurricane.
Thatâs it? A speech and some regulatory mumbo-jumbo? Welcome to the world of oversold  underperforming  Trump  bric-a-bracs. Now wonder then that â Trumpâs  announcement drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some public health advocates  who questioned his commitment to the crisis  given that  Trump  made no immediate request to Congress for emergency funding.â
And that bait and switch â an emergency announcement accompanied by no new resources â is not the worst of it.  He  spent the first nine months of  his  presidency trying to eviscerate the most important source of funding for opioid addiction treatment â Medicaid. And the GOP budget envisions  according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities  âa cut of $1.8 trillion in health entitlement programs  including $473 billion in Medicare and $1.3 trillion primarily in Medicaid and subsidies to make coverage affordable through the ACA marketplaces.â
The president has not provided direction or funds to resolve many endemic problems in treatment of opioid abuse â a shortage of treatment providers  failure to integrate mental health treatment into the larger health care system  patientsâ reticence to seek treatment because of the stigma associated with addiction. As Andy Slavitt  former head of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) tweeted  âThis is i/2 baked at best  cynical lip service at worst.â He points out that Trump has âcommitted no money  named no leader and has no plan he can articulate.â Slavitt tells me  âDeclaring an emergency with no funds  while putting forward this budget is on net a very bad day for people suffering from addiction. â
Trumpâs  way of addressing opioids â lots of show and self-congratulatory cheerleading but little substance â should surprise no one who has followed his career. Unfortunately  there are real victims here who will not benefit from  Trumpâs  showmanship. To the contrary  they may find on net fewer resources and less access to treatment. You see  when you actually need someone to address real problems and operate the levers of government  a president with no experience  no interest in details and no willingness to prioritize tax-and-spend policies to protect the safety net is a serious impediment to action â which in this case means the death toll from opioid abuse will not decrease anytime soon.
[TGT] declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency on Oct. 26. Here are the highlights from   [TGT]   speech. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
  [TGT] is and will always be a carnival barker  a snake-oil salesman  a flim-flam artist who dresses up a lot of nothing in showy garb.   [TGT]  âs gotten people to buy   [TGT]   crummy steaks  stay in gaudy hotels and pay thousands of dollars for  Trump U.  With that in mind  you can fully appreciate   [TGT]   announcement on opioids on Thursday.
  [TGT] said Thursday that the opioid epidemic â which is killing more than 100 people each day â is the âworst drug crisis in American historyâ and said   [TGT]   administration is declaring it a public health emergency  pledging the nationâs full resolve in overcoming it. . . . With  Trumpâs  declaration  the federal government will waive some regulations  give states more flexibility in how they use federal funds and expand the use of telemedicine treatment  according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on Thursday morning.
But   [TGT] stopped short of declaring a more sweeping national state of emergency that would have given states access to funding from the federal Disaster Relief Fund  just as they would have had following a tornado or hurricane.
Thatâs it? A speech and some regulatory mumbo-jumbo? Welcome to the world of oversold  underperforming   [TGT] . Now wonder then that â Trumpâs  announcement drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some public health advocates  who questioned his commitment to the crisis  given that   [TGT] made no immediate request to Congress for emergency funding.â
And that bait and switch â an emergency announcement accompanied by no new resources â is not the worst of it.   [TGT]   spent the first nine months of   [TGT]   presidency trying to eviscerate the most important source of funding for opioid addiction treatment â Medicaid. And the GOP budget envisions  according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities  âa cut of $1.8 trillion in health entitlement programs  including $473 billion in Medicare and $1.3 trillion primarily in Medicaid and subsidies to make coverage affordable through the ACA marketplaces.â
The president has not provided direction or funds to resolve many endemic problems in treatment of opioid abuse â a shortage of treatment providers  failure to integrate mental health treatment into the larger health care system  patientsâ reticence to seek treatment because of the stigma associated with addiction. As Andy Slavitt  former head of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) tweeted  âThis is i/2 baked at best  cynical lip service at worst.â He points out that Trump has âcommitted no money  named no leader and has no plan he can articulate.â Slavitt tells me  âDeclaring an emergency with no funds  while putting forward this budget is on net a very bad day for people suffering from addiction. â
Trumpâs  way of addressing opioids â lots of show and self-congratulatory cheerleading but little substance â should surprise no one who has followed his career. Unfortunately  there are real victims here who will not benefit from  Trumpâs  showmanship. To the contrary  they may find on net fewer resources and less access to treatment. You see  when you actually need someone to address real problems and operate the levers of government  a president with no experience  no interest in details and no willingness to prioritize tax-and-spend policies to protect the safety net is a serious impediment to action â which in this case means the death toll from opioid abuse will not decrease anytime soon.