Home » Public Policy » Opioid Task Force Initiatives in Washington

As the nation is gripped with the opioid epidemic, CHIME has launched a new task force to address this epidemic that has caused over 42,000 opioid related drug overdoses in 2016. As an organization representing and bringing together our nation’s healthcare information technology leaders, we are in a position to make an immense impact on our fellow Americans’ lives by using technology to bend the curve of opioid addiction. As we continue to move forward with our new initiative, we look to work with both public entities and private organizations to end this crisis.

We appreciate the efforts put forward by both Congress and the administration thus far in both the forms of awareness and funding. The President’s FY 19’ budget asked for $10 billion in funding for the crisis in addition to the $6 billion appropriated by Congress in The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. In addition to funding, there have been numerous Congressional Hearings regarding the crisis; ranging from leveraging technology to measuring the impact on families and children. The crisis is still labeled as a national health emergency and we look forward to a cooperative effort to solve this unspeakable madness.