With Opioid Abuse, Dems Gin Up Support for Not Repealing ObamaCare

Former Obama White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, once famously said:

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

Well, apparently the Democrats have seized on that concept in light of the current opioid "crisis".  A Harvard study has claimed that the "repeal of ObamaCare would gut opioid treatment gains". By publicly backing the study, the Democrats have now hit the early 2018 campaign trail with that message.

However, opioid abuse and deaths have only gotten worse since ObamaCare went into effect in 2014 and as noted by this graph from Wikipedia:

 The fact that opioid deaths spiked in 2014 along with the commencement of ObamaCare and the expansion is no coincidence.  More healthcare means more abuse because of the over prescribing of opioid drugs by doctors.  Doctors who prescribe opioids for just more than 3 days are putting their patients at a high risk of addiction.  Six percent of the cases of opioid addiction began when patients were given only a one-day supply of the drug.  When the prescription runs out, addicted patients turn to the streets.  When that happens, death is highly likely to follow.

This is not to say that the lack of healthcare would be the better treatment for opioid abuse, but it is not the reason that ObamaCare shouldn't be repealed.  The rise in addictions began before ObamaCare and has only continued to escalate since its inception.  As a country, we need the medical community to show restraint with opioid use.  However, using the crisis as a reason to maintain ObamaCare is political nonsense.

References:

Rahm Emanuel Quotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rahmemanue409199.html

Obamacare repeal would gut opioid treatment gains, study finds: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article132643424.html


Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM): Medicaid Plays Key Role in Fight against Opioid and Heroin Epidemic: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2017/3/medicaid-plays-key-role-in-fight-against-opioid-and-heroin-epidemic


Senators Shaheen, Hassan Highlight Harmful Impact of Trumpcare on Efforts to Combat Substance Misuse Crisis: https://www.hassan.senate.gov/content/icymi-senators-shaheen-hassan-highlight-harmful-impact-trumpcare-efforts-combat-substance

Opioid dependence can start within just a few days: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-painkiller-addiction-dependence-can-start-in-days/

The opioid abuse epidemic: How healthcare helped create a crisis: http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160213/MAGAZINE/302139966

Deaths from opioid overdoses have jumped — and one age group is being affected at stark rates: http://www.businessinsider.com/opioid-overdose-death-statistics-2017-2016

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