Combating the Substance Misuse Crisis
“The fentanyl, heroin, and opioid crisis is the most pressing public health and safety challenge facing New Hampshire, and states across our country. I am committed to working with anyone who is serious about ensuring that those on the front lines have the resources and support that they need to stem – and ultimately reverse – the deadly tide of this epidemic.” – Senator Hassan
Senator Hassan is working across party lines to strengthen prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement efforts to help save lives and combat the devastating opioid epidemic. As part of these efforts, Senator Hassan helped to secure more than $50 million in additional federal funding for New Hampshire to support those on the front lines of this epidemic – including by working with the Trump Administration to ensure that hardest-hit states like New Hampshire are prioritized.
Additionally, Senator Hassan worked to secure critical priorities for New Hampshire in comprehensive, bipartisan opioid legislation that the President signed into law in 2018. The bipartisan legislation included measures introduced by Senator Hassan to expand opioid recovery centers, crack down on bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry, train more doctors to prescribe medication-assisted treatment, and more.
To support law enforcement on the front lines of this epidemic, Senator Hassan joined colleagues in introducing the bipartisan STOP Act – which was included in the comprehensive bill that the President signed – to help curb the shipment of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs sent through the U.S. Postal Service to drug traffickers in the United States. Senator Hassan also cosponsored the bipartisan INTERDICT Act, which the President signed into law, to ensure that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the tools that it needs to detect and intercept fentanyl and other illegal synthetic opioids at the border.
Additionally, Senator Hassan will continue to speak out against efforts to undermine Americans’ health care, such as proposals to repeal Medicaid expansion, which experts have called the number one tool to help combat the opioid crisis. The Senator also remains focused on working across the aisle to strengthen the substance misuse workforce, eliminate barriers to medication-assisted treatment, increase funding for and improve the standards of recovery housing, and support children and grandchildren impacted by this crisis.
This epidemic is affecting Granite Staters and Americans from all walks of life, and Senator Hassan will keep working to ensure that the federal government is providing the additional funding and resources needed to support those on the front lines.
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January 15, 2021
Following Bipartisan Push from Senator Hassan, Administration Increases Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment
WASHINGTON - Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will roll back a requirement that limited physicians’ ability to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication that helps to treat opioid addiction. The Department will eliminate the need for most physicians to obtain the so-called “X” waiver in order to prescribe buprenorphine.
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January 13, 2021
Senator Hassan Meets with Health and Human Services Nominee
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and Senate Finance Committee, today met virtually with President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra.
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December 27, 2020
COVID-19 Relief, Government Funding Bill Becomes Law with Key Priorities Secured by Senator Hassan
WASHINGTON - President Trump today signed into law a year-end government funding package with substantial COVID-19 relief for Granite Staters based on a bipartisan compromise that Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) helped negotiate. The package also includes a number of other priorities that Senator Hassan fought for, including provisions to help end surprise medical billing, which Senator Hassan has led bipartisan efforts on for the past two years.
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December 22, 2020
Senator Hassan Secures COVID-19 Relief, End to Surprise Medical Billing in Year-End Legislation
WASHINGTON - Last night, the Senate passed a year-end government funding package with substantial COVID-19 relief for Granite Staters based on a bipartisan compromise that Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) helped negotiate. The package also includes a number of other priorities that Senator Hassan fought for, including provisions to help end surprise medical billing, which Senator Hassan has led bipartisan efforts on for the past two years.
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December 15, 2020
NH Delegation Announce $250K for Youth Substance Use Prevention Efforts in Laconia & Winchester
( U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) announced $250,000 in Drug Free Communities (DFC) grants from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to two local drug prevention coalitions in New Hampshire. The grants will provide the Partnership for Public Health in Laconia and Salt & Light in Winchester funding to prevent youth substance misuse, including prescription drugs and opioids.
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December 10, 2020
Senator Hassan Participates in Oversight Hearing Focused on Implementation of Hassan-Backed Legislation to Curb International Shipment of Fentanyl, Other Synthetic Drugs
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan participated in an oversight hearing today on the implementation of bipartisan legislation that she cosponsored, which was signed into law in 2018, to curb the shipment of deadly fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that are being sent through the mail to drug traffickers in the United States. The oversight hearing on implementation of the STOP Act, which was held by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is part of Senator Hassan’s ongoing effort to hold China accountable for the trafficking of fentanyl substances into the United States.
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December 10, 2020
Bipartisan Bill Cosponsored by Senator Hassan to Help Prevent Opioid Trafficking Passes Senate, Heads to President’s Desk
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate and House have passed bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Senator Maggie Hassan to help prevent opioid trafficking, and the bill is now on its way to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bipartisan DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act will ensure that personnel at the Department of Homeland Security have the tools that they need to more easily detect synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are contributing to the devastating substance misuse crisis in New Hampshire and across the country. Senator Hassan serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
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