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Programming Alerts: Senator Maggie Hassan will discuss the topic and more, and will discuss the “American Newsroom” on Monday, April 14th.
The Trump administration recently issued an intelligence report declaring illegal fentanyl ranks among the biggest threat to our security. I agree. And that's why I'm wary of the Trump administration being poised to ignore its own report and abandon one of our strongest weapons in the fight against fentanyl: Medicaid.
My hometown in New Hampshire and communities across our country have been hit hard by the fentanyl crisis. Despite many strong disagreements with President Trump, we were able to gather during his first term on a bipartisan basis to chase after fentanyl traffickers. We have developed a multifaceted strategy that includes strengthening border safety to suffocate drug flows, giving local law enforcement the necessary tools to protect our communities, and facilitating more people to struggle with addiction and receive treatment.
That last part is especially important. This is because the more people recover and stay, the lower the demand for fentanyl is. What many don't realize is that people across the country have access to addiction treatment thanks to Medicaid coverage, particularly the compensation provided under what is known as the Medicaid extension. Before the spread of Medicaid, many people who suffered from addiction were unable to get health insurance. But today they can. But President Trump and Congressional Republicans plan to cut the expansion of Medicaid and gut Medicaid to pay tax gifts to the special benefits of billionaires and businesses. This makes it difficult for people to receive treatment and move on to treatment, only to strengthen the power of the drug cartel.
The Senate suspends fentanyl laws and permanently classifies all fentanyl-related drugs as Schedule I substances
When I served as governor of New Hampshire, law enforcement officials were key supporters of efforts to strengthen Medicaid. Because they knew firsthand to lead people to recovery.
One of my roles in the Senate is being a ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, and recently published a new report detailing the importance of Medicaid in the fight against addiction and fentanyl. Our analysis shows that around 1 million people across the country are receiving treatments that support addiction medication through Medicaid. And this treatment is working. The most recent data available shows that overdose deaths nationwide decreased by approximately 25% in 2024 compared to 2023. We have finally identified the most effective tactics in our fight against fentanyl, and finally we are seeing a faint light of light in this horrifyingly dark tunnel.
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But President Trump and his allies in Congress are poised to rescind their progress by handing over budgets that will pay more gifts of billionaires' taxes by blocking Medicaid. This plan effectively ends Medicaid as we know, making healthcare unruly for millions of Americans. And it will leave many people struggling with addiction unable to get the help they need. Ultimately, this loss of essential tools in the fight against fentanyl makes law enforcement even more difficult, retreating the bipartisan progress we have made, and causing many of our fellow Americans to fall into a spiral of dependence and despair.
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The fight against fentanyl is not a partisan issue. The fentanyl crisis struck and destroyed the red and blue states of all political stripes. The most important job of government is to keep people safe. So, to keep granite statistics and Americans safe, they are willing to work across the party line and stand up to anyone, regardless of the party. I made extreme voices on both parties to strengthen law enforcement. As governor, I helped hire more police officers to keep our community safe. He also supported bipartisan efforts to secure our borders, efforts informed by travelling to the northern and southern borders, and conversations with border patrols and law enforcement officials on the ground.
Some of my Republican colleagues have expressed concern about the efforts made by the president and Republican Congress leaders to despise Medicaid, and I know that many Americans who support the president, including the president of New Hampshire, share these concerns and want the president to reverse the course. You cannot surrender to the battle with fentanyl. Not when our fellow Americans die from overdose every year, not as great as ours, and not as ever. Now is the time to put politics aside, listen to law enforcement officials and the administration's own intelligence reports, gather to protect Medicaid so that we can protect children, prevent fentanyl trafficking, and bring more Americans who have been addicted to the path to recovery.
For more information about Sen, click here. Maggie Hassan
