New Approach Aims To Lower Drug Overdose Deaths In Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Wolf administration wants Pennsylvania to join the states that are treating opioid addiction through a model known as "health homes." The model has shown promise in treating a growing and devastating problem.
During a visit to the Wedge Recovery Center in South Philadelphia, Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas gave a glimpse of the toll opiates, such as painkillers and heroin, take.
"The second leading cause of years of life lost in Pennsylvania is drug addiction," Dallas said. "Only heart disease kills more people under 70."
Dallas says it's time to do something different. His approach uses the Health Home model crafted in the Affordable Care Act -- comprehensive care with multiple coordinated services.
"It'll really change the way we do business," he said, "and it will really mark a shift from the results we're getting right now."
Dallas says twenty will open around the state this year, but the goal is to open fifty, if the legislature approves the $34-million for the program in next year's budget, something he says will save in the long run.
"I'm still going to serve them," Dallas said. "I'm just going to serve them in the ER, or prison, places that cost a whole lot more and we'll have a lot less success."
Maryland, Rhode Island and Vermont are already using the model.
