MO professor discusses prioritizing transportation access for people recovering from addiction

A Missouri task force is expected to propose legislation next year to boost transportation access for people recovering from addiction. Rachel Winograd, a University of Missouri-St. Louis professor, tells the task force that government barriers should be eliminated for providers and patients.

“Just create pilot grant programs, or whatever you want to call them, and give providers the money to do the things they’re asking to do, giving them specific money to buy their own bus passes, or rideshare vouchers for Uber or Lyft, and not having to go through a reimbursement process to do so, which takes a lot of staff time and thus money,”

Winograd says another piece to recovery is taking the treatment to the people by offering
Adequate housing and transportation, which are both key components in successfully overcoming addiction. Winograd wants the state to create a test program to give funding to providers so that they can avoid bureaucratic hoops.

“These are not massive, big visionary ideas by any stretch. They are, to me, low hanging fruit where it’s money that you could give to providers to provide a daily service that they are desperately asking to be able to provide. Eliminating government barriers for online healthcare would also go a long way for providers and patients.”

She says rural areas don’t have enough access to methadone, which is medication to reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings. “Methadone is only available in federally designated opioid treatment programs, of which I believe there are 13 in Missouri. That is not very many. As the drug supply continues to rapidly change, the community needs greater availability to methadone.”