RFK extends 2017 opioid public health emergency, protecting role of Medicare

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has renewed a 2017 public health emergency declaration regarding opioid abuse, giving the HHS flexibility to address an epidemic that kills hundreds of Americans per day.

Kennedy’s 90-day extension of the declaration, which would have expired on March 21, comes as street dealers across the nation are now switching to synthetic opioids even more potent than fentanyl, the drug responsible for an estimated 370,000-plus American deaths from 2015 to 2023.

Though a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that drug overdoses nationally declined by 24% in 2024 compared to 2023, illicit drug overdoses remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-44.

“This Administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is,” Kennedy said in a Tuesday press release. “Renewing the Opioid Public Health Emergency Declaration affirms the Administration’s commitment to addressing the opioid overdose crisis and is one of many critical steps we will take to Make America Healthy Again.”

The renewal of the PHE declaration allows the HHS to continue using expanded authorities to confront the national crisis. These measures include providing more Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants for opioid abuse treatment and prevention programs.

It allows the HHS Secretary to adjust Medicare reimbursements for Part B drugs, which include the opioid addiction treatment medications buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone.

Legal Action Center, an organization dedicated to combating substance abuse among other things, commended Kennedy’s extension while calling for the protection of SAMHSA and federal programs dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic.

“Clearly, we are not out of this crisis, as the HHS Secretary recognizes in his extension of the public health emergency,” LAC President Paul Samuels said. “SAMHSA staff hold critical expertise and knowledge about how to effectively prevent, treat, and promote recovery for people with substance use issues, which we cannot afford to lose.”

President Donald Trump has said stopping the flow of fentanyl and illicit drugs over America’s borders is one of his highest priorities. In fiscal year 2024 alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized 21,889 pounds of synthetic opioids, enough to kill more than 4.9 billion people.