President Garcia’s Expand Medicated Assisted Treatment Pilot Program Unanimously Passes the Senate Health and Human Services Committee

February 7, 2019

Denver, CO — The Senate Health and Human Services Committee today voted unanimously to pass SB19-001, Expand Medication-Assisted Treatment Pilot Program, a bill to expand the Medicated Assisted Treatment pilot program currently offered in Pueblo and Routt Counties to 10 additional counties across the state. The bill now moves to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

In 2017, there were 558 opioid overdose deaths in Colorado from both prescription opioids and illegal opioids such as heroin, according to the Colorado Department of Human Services.

“We are so proud of how many people have been helped by the pilot program in Pueblo and Routt Counties, and it is our hope that this bill will be passed so many more Coloradans can find the help they need,” said President Leroy Garcia, the Senate sponsor. “This bill and the expansion of the pilot program will ensure that Coloradans who are struggling in some of the highest need areas of the state can get the help they need to beat opioid addiction.”

SB19-001 would provide $5 million in funding through marijuana tax dollars over two years to rapidly expand this program across the state to help Coloradans battling opioid addiction in the highest need counties. In addition to expanding and increasing funding for the MAT program, Senate Bill 1 would also shift the administration of the program from the College of Nursing to the center for research into substance abuse disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies, expanding the work that the College of Nursing is doing and adding more disciplines and communities from around the state and on the Anschutz Campus.

To learn more about SB19-001, please visit https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-001.

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