Sen. Murray: New analysis shows opioid crisis costs Washington state billions

The Senate Health committee unanimously voted Tuesday to send the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, originally introduced by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), to the chamber's floor.

The vote came just one day after Murray unveiled a new analysis that found the opioid crisis cost Washington state over $9 billion in 2016 alone. Click here to view the full report.

"The largest economic impact of the crisis in Washington state was opioid-related fatalities, which cost the state $7 billion in 2016. From 2012-2016 the total economic cost of opioid-related fatalities in Washington was over $34 billion," Murray's office said in a news release.

The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 would reauthorize grant funding to states for an additional three years, and would prioritize awarding funding to states and Indian Tribes with the highest rates of opioid related deaths. Click here to read more on the legislation.

On KIRO 7 News at 6, Essex Porter is asking Sen. Murray how the funding would be used. Watch with us on-air or here. 

On their website, the U.S. Senate HELP committee says The Opioid Crisis Response Actor of 2018, "will improve the ability of the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to address the crisis, including the ripple effects of the crisis on children, families, and communities, and improve data sharing between states.

The legislation which is composed of 40 different proposals, mostly from Republican and Democratic members of the Senate health committee, is the result of seven bipartisan hearings over several months, and feedback from the public."

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