SEN MAGGIE HASSAN: Trump could be surrendering one of our strongest weapons in the fight against fentanyl

The Trump administration is poised to potentially cut Medicaid Expansion, and in doing so, cut a vitally important resource for people to get addiction treatment.

My home state of New Hampshire and communities all across our country have been hit hard by the fentanyl crisis. Despite my many strong disagreements with President Trump, we were able to come together during his first term on a bipartisan basis to go after fentanyl traffickers. We developed a multipronged strategy which included strengthening border security to choke off the flow of drugs, giving local law enforcement the tools that they need to protect our communities, and making it easier for more people who struggle with addiction to get treatment.

That last part is especially important because the more people who get into and stay in recovery, the lower the demand is for fentanyl. What many people may not realize is that every day people nationwide get access to addiction treatment thanks to Medicaid coverage, especially coverage offered under what is known as Medicaid Expansion. Prior to Medicaid Expansion, many people who suffered from addiction couldn’t get health insurance, let alone coverage for addiction treatment.  But today they can.  Yet President Trump and congressional Republicans plan to slash Medicaid – and gut Medicaid Expansion – in order to pay for tax giveaways to billionaires and corporate special interests. This will make it harder for people to get treatment and move into treatment and will only strengthen the power of the drug cartels.