PANEL OKS GIVING METHADONE FUNDS TO EPILEPSY AID

Shift Restores Money Cut For Budget

Drug addicts receiving methadone treatments should be less of a state
priority than programs helping epileptics, said members of a Senate panel
reviewing the state Health Department budget yesterday.

Members voted to shift $186,500 from TennCare's methadone program to
restore that amount to the Epilepsy Foundation, which was cut as part of
Gov. Phil Bredesen's belt-tightening measures.

With that change, members of the Senate General Welfare Committee approved
the Health Department's $424.7 million budget. The budget still must get
approval in the Senate Finance Committee and in the House, as well.

Methadone, often given in clinics as a drink that looks like punch,
provides a "fix" to help wean addicts from their drug of choice, often
prescription painkillers but also heroin.

Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, who initially targeted the methadone
money, said he is not sure the state should be spending any amount on
methadone treatment, saying all it does is "keep drug addicts happy."

Senators were more concerned about the Health Department's proposal to wipe
out all state funding - about $205,000 - to four Epilepsy Foundations,
including one in Middle Tennessee.

Through research and educational programs at the foundations, about 100
epilepsy-related hospitalizations are prevented each year with savings to
individuals and communities of about $550,000, said Sen. Curtis Person,
R-Memphis.

He sponsored an amendment, which was passed, that would trim the epilepsy
funds by 9.5%, along the lines of the 9% cuts imposed by Bredesen statewide.

Health Commissioner Kenneth Robinson defended the epilepsy cut in a tough
budget year, saying the foundations have received state funding for 25
years and can survive with money they get outside the state appropriation.
For example, the Middle Tennessee foundation has an annual budget of
$197,000, of which 39% comes from the state, Robinson said. He also
defended methadone clinics as proven and appropriate ways to treat drug
addicts.

Robinson said that addicts can be back at work and living productively
while on methadone and that they are less likely to commit crimes, which
creates societal cost savings.

The state does not run any methadone clinics, but the Health Department
regulates six clinics, said Assistant Commissioner Dr. Stephanie Perry, who
oversees the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. For every dollar
spent on treatment, the return on investment is between $4 and $7, she said.

TennCare expects to spend about $3.5 million this year to reimburse
enrollees for methadone treatment. TennCare imposes a $30,000 lifetime
limit on substance abuse services. Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain,
said the program is attracting drug addicts from out of state and that it
does not have proper controls because addicts are not screened to ensure
that they are drug-free.

TennCare officials said a $186,500 cut to the program would result in a
loss of $338,100 in federal funds, for a total of $524,600 cut from the
program, TennCare spokeswoman Lola Potter said.

The state would have to decide whether it wants to cut down on who gets
treated or how many treatments they can get, she said. Those decisions
would require a change with the "waiver" that the state has with the
federal government that authorizes TennCare.