Funding Opioid Programs

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is reintroducing his push for a $60 wheel tax and metered parking at the lakefront to expand county revenues. I may have more on that later. But one of the reasons he wants to expand county revenues is to pay for the opioid epidemic.

User fee increases, which may be appropriate in some circumstances, simply don’t generate enough revenue to make a significant impact in sustaining our bottom line,” the statement said. “That is why the county executive is proposing a $30 increase to the vehicle registration fee. This is the only new revenue stream legally available to the county that can prevent drastic service cuts and allow us to make investments in areas that cannot be ignored, like the opioid epidemic.”

And yes the opioid issue needs to be brought front and center…but I don’t think the county should financially be left on the hook for it. This is a statewide issue and Madison should have addressed it in the state budget. And maybe we (and Exec Abele) let them get away with not properly funding it statewide.

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4 thoughts on “Funding Opioid Programs

  1. I think it should come from the doctors and their union. They largely are responsible, let them pay for it.

    1. Bob, when I hit the submit button on this post last night I was sure you would respond. And I was hoping for just once, based on your career background, that you would have something constructive to say…something that might suggest a solution to the problem. I expected far too much.

      Bob…as a pharmacist…you are part of the problem…you are one of the dealers…so given your actual comment above…I don’t think you have any standing on the subject if you can’t help provide an actual solution.

      On this particular topic…YOU know better than what you posted.

  2. Like many problems with healthcare, this one has it’s roots deep in Obamacare. Part of Obama­care was an initiative meant to reward quality care based partly on patient-­satisfaction surveys that included the questions, “During this hospital stay, how often did the hospital staff do everything they could to help you with your pain?” And: “How often was your pain well controlled?”

    Dr. Nick Sawyer, a health-­policy fellow at the UC Davis department of emergency medicine said, “The government is telling us we need to make sure a patient’s pain is under control, it’s hard to make them happy without a narcotic. This policy is leading to ongoing opioid abuse.”

    (http://time.com/4292290/how-obamacare-is-fueling-americas-opioid-epidemic/)

    Dr Nick was spot on.

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