Congress can decrease opioid deaths, but it will require more investment 

Illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids continue to devastate communities across America. Accidental opioid overdose remains the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 44 and senior citizens are seeing a troubling rise in opioid overdoses. 

The nationwide decline in opioid overdose deaths reported at the end of 2024 was promising. Still, the 80,000 Americans who died from this crisis remains too many. Congress must not see the decline in overdose deaths as the finish line. It should view them as an opportunity to double down on the strategies we’ve seen saving lives in communities nationwide. 

When I served as secretary of Health and Human Services, the department took a broad, locally led approach to combatting opioid deaths. We worked to deploy nearly half a billion dollars in grants to states. We recognized that states and local communities were in the best position to decide what worked for them.

Whether it’s investing in drug prevention education at schools, increasing the availability of addiction treatment services, or supporting first responders, our role was to give them the support they needed to save lives, not to micromanage their efforts. That principle still holds. Washington should not dictate a one-size-fits-all solution to addiction. Instead, it should reinforce the tools that have already been shown to work on the ground. 

Among those tools is naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose when administered promptly. It’s not a cure for addiction, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. But when someone is overdosing, naloxone is the lifesaving bridge that can at least buy more time — for parents to get their children into treatment or for law enforcement to intervene. It buys more time for a second chance.

In 2017, we helped expand access to naloxone for first responders and caregivers. Today, this tool remains a basic part of any practical overdose response toolkit, but many states and localities are experiencing shortages of it. The fiscal 2026 budget should fix that. 

It should also help accelerate the use of prescription drug monitoring programs. These are state-run databases that track prescriptions for controlled substances and help flag dangerous patterns, like doctor shopping or excessive refills.

Prescription drug monitoring programs don’t interfere with clinical decision-making, and they give prescribers valuable information that can help reduce unnecessary or duplicative opioid prescribing. Most states now operate robust prescription drug monitoring programs, and when used consistently, they’ve been shown to reduce opioid-related deaths. Supporting these systems with modest federal investment would represent a commonsense step that could yield a strong return. 

Of course, funding emergency tools alone is not enough. What often gets lost in the political debate is the importance of long-term solutions — building up treatment capacity, ensuring providers are trained and supported, and reducing the barriers people face when they seek help. Many states are already making progress in this area, but without reliable federal support, that progress can stall. 

That’s why it’s so important that the fiscal 2026 budget reflect a clear, bipartisan commitment to fighting opioid addiction with a combination of compassion and discipline. Compassion, because we are dealing with human lives and families in crisis. Discipline, because not every flashy program is effective — and because every dollar spent should be measured against real outcomes.

I understand the need for fiscal responsibility. As a former Budget Committee chair in Congress and a physician, I’ve long believed that we must be judicious in how we allocate resources. But there is nothing fiscally responsible about letting preventable deaths continue because we failed to invest in interventions that are proven to work. Nor is there anything conservative about ignoring the safety, health and security consequences of an unchecked addiction and fentanyl epidemic.

Congress has an opportunity to recommit to a smarter approach. Not one that is overly centralized or politicized, but one that empowers local communities, respects the dignity of those struggling with addiction, and insists on measurable results.

We’ve made progress before. With the right balance of resources, leadership and humility, we can do it again. 

Dr. Tom Price served as the 23rd U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services and a member of Congress from Georgia from 2005 to 2017, including as chair of the House Budget Committee from 2015 to 2017.