State Initiatives Will Make Unprecedented Strides in Fighting the Opioid Crisis

Governor Murphy’s “Righting the Opioid Epidemic” initiatives will lead to unprecedented and significant strides forward in addressing the crisis and setting the path to reversing the tragic trend of drug overdose deaths. NJAMHAA applauds the multi-faceted, cross-system, collaborative approach engaging government, law enforcement, providers, and affected individuals and their families in a unified strategy.

NJAMHAA is especially pleased that Governor Murphy has heard and responded to our members and other stakeholders’ call to remove prior authorization requirements for medication assisted treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries and to increase access to this type of service by requiring that it be offered in residential settings and recruiting and training primary care physicians to administer it and connect them to other resources.

By keeping families together through the provision of housing, transportation, and other assistance and also expanding the Prescription Monitoring System, as well as Operation Helping Hand to 17 counties to get individuals who commit low-level offenses into substance use treatment, the Governor’s plan is a diversified effort that holds great promise.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!

While many conversations and publications speak mainly about exercise and weight loss as New Year’s resolutions, I suggest that we all also strive to simplify our lives and reinforce the reasons for why we do what we do. I believe this is especially important for those of us who are in healthcare fields serving individuals with mental illnesses, substance use disorders and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities.

We all seem to be going frenetically in different directions, trying to keep up with the proliferation of instantaneous and 24/7 communications in different forms – particularly as the mental health and substance use fields are undergoing many changes. Much of this information is inevitably repetitive as many organizations with common goals are bound to share the same information that affects them and the constituencies they serve.

We are exhausting ourselves and that is bound to affect our energy levels, ability to focus and potential impact. It is better to concentrate on a focused direction and remember why we are in the field and on whom we need to focus to achieve our purpose.

May you enjoy a happy, healthy, successful and rewarding New Year.