• Home
  • Archive
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • May 9, 2025

The Madison Times

The Paper That's More Than Black and White

  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
    • International News
    • Sports News
    • Education News
  • Columns
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Life Lessons with Alex Gee
  • Events
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Lifestyle
  • Classifieds
  • Community
    • Middle Spread
  • Milwaukee

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Mayor Barrett Says Federal Aid Can Help Opioid Epidemic

December 15, 2018

By Ana Martinez-Ortiz

Tom Barrett

In recent years, Milwaukee has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of opioid-related deaths. Of those who died, many struggled with addiction for years. While the obvious solution would be treatment at a rehab or detox center, the fact of the matter remains: rehab is not always an affordable option.

Earlier this week, Mayor Tom Barrett called on state officials to help. He asked that they expand Medicaid to help opioid users. This epidemic is not limited to one race, economic class or culture, he said. It is not an urban issue, suburban issue but a state issue, Barrett added.

Barrett explained that in Dayton, Ohio there was a similar situation to that of Milwaukee. However, with assistance from Medicaid, it saw a decrease in opioid-related deaths. According to Barrett, Gov. Walker and his legislature essentially refused to accept Medicaid dollars. Instead, Medicaid was expanded through Badger Care, which used state dollars.

The legislative fiscal bureau reported that because the state’s legislature refused the Medicaid expansion, it refused over a billion dollars in federal aid.

“These are dollars that could be used for and should be used to reduce drug addiction in our state,” Barrett said.

This affected the state fiscally, but it also created problems for those living in poverty. Barrett explained that only certain people were marked eligible for Badger Care, despite the fact that there are still people essentially living in poverty.

Often, these people, the ones in and out of poverty, usually need the most help, Barrett said.

According to Barrett, Governor-elect Tony Evers would like to accept federal aid. However, given the current events and actions that took place during Wisconsin’s lame-duck session, Evers would not be the only one involved in the decision. The state legislature would also play a role.

“People have to understand,” Barrett said. “You might have political reasons for not liking this, but this has real-world impact.”

This could change the lives of people in the community, county and state who are dealing with an opioid addiction. Barrett said the issue is if these federal dollars are refused fewer people will receive treatment.

“The other reality is, by rejecting these federal dollars fewer people are getting the treatment that they could get either under Badger Care or under Medicaid,” Barrett said.

“That’s what we want to see change,” he added. The community should desire to reduce the number of deaths, Barrett said. Fentanyl, heroin and opioids are some of the leading causes of deaths in Wisconsin.

More resources mean more treatment which could reduce the number of deaths, he said.

According to Alderman Michael Murphy of the 10th District, last year in Milwaukee County over 400 people died.

“They were overdose deaths,” Murphy said. “That’s more than homicides and car accidents combined.”

These deaths could have been prevented. Treatment can be made an affordable option with the federal aid. When people are ready to seek help, they deserve to receive help, Murphy said.

“These are real lives,” Murphy said. “A lot of times they’re just looking for help.”

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Ana Martinez-Ortiz, Drug Addiction, Michael Murphy, Opiods, Tom Barrett

Read More - Related Articles

  • Milwaukee is Losing a Generation of Black Men to Drug Crisis
  • What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. Say About the World Today
  • NNS Spotlight: How Serenity Inns is Expanding to Serve men Struggling With Addiction
  • ‘They die so quickly’: Fentanyl killing 1,000+ people in Wisconsin each year
  • Gov. Evers, AG Kaul Slam Republicans for Again Delaying Funds to Combat Opioid Epidemic


Connect With Us

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Karma Chavez
Amanda Zhang
Julianne Malveaux
Benjamin Chavis
George Curry

Journalists

Jacklin Bolduan
Brianna Rae
Aarushi Agni
Rob Franklin
Claire Miller

Topics

Brown Girl Green $
Young Gifted & Black
Universally Speaking
Ask Progress
Civil Rights

Topics

Police Shooting
Police Brutality
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Racism

Politicians

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Gwen Moore
Paul Soglin
Scott Walker

Contact Us

Phone:
414-449-4860

Copyright © 2025 Courier Communications. All Rights Reserved.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.