REP. PETTERSEN HAILS SUPPORT ACT Warns federal healthcare cuts could cost lives Photos and Story by Giles Clasen THE BIPARTISAN REAUTHORIZATION of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act will fund critical addiction treatment programs, U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado said, but she warned that broader federal health care cuts could cost lives and unravel decades of progress in treating substance use disorders. The SUPPORT Act, which Pettersen sponsored with Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., reauthorizes funding for a range of substance use disorder programs, including prescription drug monitoring, naloxone distribution, funding for Medication-Assisted Treatment, and treatment support for pregnant and post-partum women struggling with addiction. “It reauthorizes funding for critical programs that Colorado depends on and makes sure that we’re keeping people alive who are at risk of overdosing from opioids, and ultimately having the ability to connect them to treatment,” Pettersen said. According to Petterson, the passage of the bill by is bittersweet because she fears cuts the Trump administration to broader healthcare and Medicaid programs, weakening treatment options and funding for individuals facing addiction. “Without providing people a path to get the care that they need and to live in recovery, it not only costs taxpayers significantly more; we’re also going to lose countless lives unnecessarily,” Pettersen said. Pettersen said that the Trump administration has caused U.S. Rep Brittany Pettersen of Colorado and her mother link arms during a recent visit in Denver. significant damage by cutting federal programs that oversee and distribute federal dollars for addiction programs. She pointed to more than 1,100 layoffs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as SAMHSA, which are hamstringing the delivery of substance use treatment. “What’s happening already is that it’s really difficult to disseminate the dollars that are available federally because of all the people that they fired with SAMHSA,” Pettersen said. “I’m grateful to have the dollars from the SUPPORT Act that have the potential to be utilized, but I’m very realistic with how difficult it is going to be for states to benefit from them when the layoffs make implementation very difficult.” Pettersen said Trump has used the fentanyl crisis to justify many of his foreign and domestic policies, including tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, and military posturing against Venezuela. He has also repeatedly blamed immigrants for smuggling the drug and used the claim to justify his deportation policies. “[Trump] used the fentanyl crisis to target the immigrant community and people of color, and I don’t think he ever actually 12 JANUARY 2026
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