When Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed Medicaid funding for heroin addiction treatment, he kept Illinois in the dark ages while many other states are seeing the light. Roosevelt University released a study recently showing that Illinois’ addiction treatment capacity fell from 28th in the nation five years ago to third worst. Illinois is one of the few states that doesn’t allow Medicaid coverage of addiction treatment with methadone. The estimated cost – which Rauner wants to “save” by his veto – is $15 million a year. Rep. Lou Lang, the bill’s sponsor, said many addicts don’t have private insurance. “The governor is taking the position that we can’t afford to save these lives.” Illinois is in the midst of a heroin epidemic. This veto deserves an override. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2015.
