Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s gulf coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with the Florida Farm Bureau as well as local agricultural producers, farmers, and growers to discuss the storm’s impact. Photos are courtesy of...
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Photos: Rubio Visits Barrier Islands Post-Hurricane Helene
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from the barrier islands to discuss the storm’s impact and current recovery efforts. Photos are courtesy of...
Rubio, Scott, Florida Colleagues to POTUS: Expedite Resources to Floridians
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing catastrophic damage along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s crucial for the federal government to expedite state-requested resources and authorize key policy flexibilities in order for Floridians to make a swift...
Rubio Staff Hosts Hurricane Helene Recovery Assistance
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host two in-person events to assist constituents affected by Hurricane Helene and help navigate applications for FEMA assistance. Food, water, and additional resources will be available at the events. Event...
Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
Rubio, Scott Urge FEMA to Expedite Hurricane Reimbursements
Following the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Debby, some local governments in Florida face looming budget shortfalls that could disrupt disaster recovery efforts. If these local governments receive reimbursements for past hurricanes from the Federal Emergency...
Senate Passes Opioids Package with Rubio Provision to Eliminate Patient Brokering
Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which includes several provisions championed by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) to prevent and treat opioid addiction, including the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act. This provision will help stop payments to middlemen referring patients to illicit sober homes and treatment centers—increasingly a problem in South Florida. The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which passed the House of Representatives last week, now heads to the President for signature.
In May, Rubio toured a Pompano Beach sober home and discussed challenges South Florida faces with the opioid crisis, which motivated many of the critical provisions he secured in the opioids package. Rubio also met with members of the Palm Beach County heroin and sober homes task forces to identify meaningful opportunities to end this crisis, which is where Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg raised the issue of patient brokering, leading to the creation of Rubio’s Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act.
“After touring a sober homes neighborhood in Pompano Beach earlier this year, I saw firsthand the challenges South Florida is facing in combatting its opioid crisis,” Rubio said. “That’s why I’ve been working hard in Washington to ensure we are doing everything possible for Americans to receive life-saving care and to ensure patients are protected from those seeking to exploit victims of addiction. This bill will help the many Americans struggling with addiction, and I’m proud of the provisions I secured, including measures to ensure necessary care for newborn babies suffering from opioid withdrawal, prevent unused drugs from ending up in the wrong hands, and target disreputable clinics and sober homes to ensure wrongdoers are punished. I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for their help in securing these important provisions, and I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law.”
Rubio-championed provisions:
- The Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, which Rubio introduced with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to help stop payments to middlemen referring patients to illicit sober homes and treatment centers;
- Legislation to improve the quality of care provided to newborn babies suffering from opioid withdrawal by providing states additional funding to research babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS);
- El texto de la carta en inglés está Hospice Safe Drug Disposal Act, legislation to allow hospice providers to safely dispose of unused opioids so they do not end up in the wrong hands;
- El texto de la carta en inglés está Sober Home Fraud Detection Act, legislation to help states, law enforcement, private insurers and patients identify potentially illicit sober homes to help ensure those who need care are able to find reputable legitimate facilities;
- The Synthetics Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act, which would make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute those that sell and distribute synthetic drugs that are substantially similar to other illegal drugs by closing a loophole that enabled wrongdoers to avoid prosecution by simply labeling the deadly drug as “not intended for human consumption;” and
- The Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, legislation to interdict fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and other narcotics by requiring international shipments though the U.S. Postal Service to provide advance information on where the shipment is coming from, where it is going, and its contents, and to instruct U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection to develop technology to identify fentanyl and illicit opioids entering the United States by mail.
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