To unmute your microphones anytime you speak. If at any time during hearing im unable to chair the hearing the human chairman colon or vice chairman of the committee congressman kennedy will serve as chair until im able to return. Documents for the record can be sent to Benjamin Tabor at the email address weve provided. All documents will be entered ininto the record with the inclusion of the hearing. The chair will not recognize herself for an Opening Statement. Today the energy and Commerce Committee continues itser oversight of the nations covid19 Pandemic Responsee examining a safe and effective covid19 vaccine that the American People can trust. In the eight months we battled covid19 over 7 million americans have had the virus and tragically over 200,000 have lost their lives. Millions ofll people face on employment and have lost their Health Insurance and families are still juggling childcare and virtual classrooms. The list of those most vulnerable to covid19 is especially on th
the subcommittee on oversight investigation will now come to order. today, the subcommittee on oversight and investigations is holding a hearing in titled, public health emergency, state efforts to curb the opioid crisis. the purpose of today s hearing is to examine states efforts and successes and addressing the opioid epidemic, as well as opportunities for future federal support, and just to let everyone know, doctor alexander scott the, reason why we are getting started a little bit late, the plane was delayed, but now the doctor is on her way. so, we will swear in the witnesses when we get to that point, and if we have to do that one later, we will. the chairman recognizes herself an open i using statement. as i, said the committee continues its bipartisan efforts to combat the opioid crisis. the country is in the midst of an opioid epidemic unlike any in history. according to the cdc, from 1999 to 2017, nearly 400,000 people died from opioid overdoses. in 2017, more tha
The 2016 we learned from the New York Times weve lost roughly 60,000 people to Drug Overdoses. That is more in one year that all the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and likely, that number is underestimated because much of the data will not be in until the end of this year, 2017. Its staggering. For every fatal overdose its estimated there are 20 nonfatal overdoses and for 2016 that could mean your 1 million. 183,000 lives have been lost in the us from overdoses between 2015. Thats about 50,000 we lost over the last, 500,000 we lost over the next decade. The roots of this crisis began in 1980 when a letter to the editor in the journal of medicine was misinterpreted as evidence. It was unlikely someone become addicted out of 4000 cases a center was only four connections. Years later the joint Commission Following the american medical associations recommendation assessment established standards for Pain Management interpreted by many doctors as encouraging the prescription of
That is the discussion we need to be having. Is it fair to say most of the people who are in the waiting list who are develop mentally disabled traumatic brain injured people and those with serious Mental Illness are on medicaid, a different type of population and what has been your findings with the governors with respect to how most of them would like to take care of this population if there are consensus among governors, what is the governor, the legislature to deal with respect to the population. I will say there are exceptions to that rule. How did they do it. And they are focused on those that are the most needy and made that a priority in their state and their waitlist. We need to explore the states that found ways with little or no wait lists. And the application to cms for medicaid waiver to continue suyears. And outstanding program, it is a way to save and help, it can be replicated. It is an incredible model that can work, we have a waiting list in indiana. I hope the new no