Senators cast their votes narrowly on July 25, 2017, to initiate a debate on a bill aimed at overruling significant provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, in a matter of hours, Republicans had to deal with a major blow when their exhaustive plan to repeal the former President Barack Obama’s health care law didn’t get the required number of 60 votes. Republicans lost the bid by 43-57.

Legislators from both the parties gave a standing ovation when Senator John McCain appeared in the well of the Senate to cast his vote, despite suffering from brain cancer. McCain cast a critical vote in favor of opening an unconstrained and contested debate on the future of the ACA, media reports said. The 51-50 vote gave an initial boost for President Donald Trump, who had been compelling senators in the last few days to get started with the debates on repealing the Obamacare. Earlier, Trump had celebrated the Senate’s vote in a rally in Ohio by saying that the nation is now “one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare.”

Experts believe that repealing the Obamacare would affect coverage for mental health and addiction problems. The ACA’s Medicaid plan has helped many people with mental illness and substance abuse disorders to seek necessary treatment. While the Obamacare requires health insurance plans to cover psychiatric disorders, the new Republican bill seeks to do away with the practice after 2019.

Drugs are killing more Americans than guns and road rages

The entire country is reeling under the mental health and drug abuse crisis. If it was the killer HIV epidemic during the late 1980s and the early 1990s, in present day America, drugs are the major cause of accidental deaths nationwide. In fact, studies suggest fatal drug overdoses have exceeded deaths by gun violence and car crashes throughout the country.

Coincidentally, with the elevation of opioid addiction and related overdose problems to a burning issue by the Trump administration, a new study conducted by WalletHub, the online research group, in May 2017, revealed that the largest and most severe of all problems actually exist in the backyard of the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The study claims that the District of Columbia has the most serious drug problem as compared to the remaining 50 states. The study compared the 50 states to the District of Columbia across 15 key metrics, including overdose and arrest rates, meth-lab incidents per capita and the amount of opioids prescribed.

Undoubtedly, the heroin and opioid epidemic have ravaged the country calling for prompt action at the federal, state and local levels. President Trump recently announced the setting up of a new Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis to deal with the menace. Yet, several lawmakers complain about the possible 95 percent reduction in funding of the National Drug Control Policy that the Trump administration would seek in the forthcoming fiscal 2018 budget. The overall situation is so alarming that the only way forward is to ensure professional treatment and support to all those who are struggling with any form of addiction.

Leading a drug-free life

Unfortunately, most individuals fall prey to addiction more quickly than they might ever realize. The only way to break free from the clutches of deadly substances is to undergo a specialized treatment at a professional drug addiction rehabilitation center to combat the life-wrecking effects of harmful drugs.

The Sovereign Health of California understands the plight of someone who is unable to discontinue the use of harmful substances despite the negative impact on his or her life. Our customized addiction treatment services are designed to treat the person holistically. If you or your loved one is battling addiction to any prescription drug, call at our 24/7 helpline number or chat online to know about the most effective drug addiction programs at our state-of-art centers.