By SANDHYA RAMAN, ANDREW SIDDONS and MARY ELLEN McINTIRE

Congress faced a startling public health and political problem throughout 2016 as the number of people dying from opioid addiction climbed. The number of Americans succumbing to drug overdoses more than tripled between 1999 and 2015, affecting a whiter and more geographically diverse population than previous drug crises. Lawmakers ultimately approved some modest policies aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse and provided $1 billion to support state efforts.

Two years later, the situation is more dire and the political imperative to act even more intense. Drug overdose deaths rose another 12 percent from October 2016 to October 2017, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The 2018 debate mirrors the earlier effort in many ways. Both chambers of Congress will likely soon pass dozens of proposals to help combat the opioid epidemic in ways that most experts agree is an improvement over the 2016 effort. But they also suffer from the same shortcoming: They largely focus on how the problem began, not on how it’s evolved.

Experts say the piecemeal approach falls short of the systemic changes needed to address the scourge of addiction and prepare the United States for future needs.