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President Obama, confronting a national epidemic of heroin and prescription drug abuse, met here Tuesday with recovering addicts, doctors and law enforcement officials to underscore his determination to tackle a problem some critics say he left until too late in his administration. “We are seeing more people killed because of opioid overdose than from traffic accidents — I mean, think about that,” Mr. Obama said at a meeting of the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit. “It has to be something right up at the top of our radar screen.” (Landler, 3/29)

Obama's appearance at the conference came as his administration issued proposed regulations and announced new funding for states to purchase and distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and to train first responders and others on its use. The actions also coincide with a commitment from 60 medical schools to heighten training for prescribing opioids. (3/29)

Given its widespread reach, administration officials announced a wide range of actions to fight the epidemic, such as expanding access to drug treatment, bolstering efforts to ensure health coverage for substance abuse and mental health are on par with benefits for other medical services, investing in partnerships between law enforcement and communities, and providing guidance on using federal funds to start or expand needle exchanges. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, meanwhile, said he will release a report later this year on substance use, addiction and health, similar to the landmark surgeon general’s report on smoking released 50 years ago that focused public attention on that issue. (Ungar, 3/29)

President Obama mounted his bully pulpit Tuesday in an attempt to change the focus on heroin and opioid addiction from a criminal problem to a health issue. It would be a major shift in emphasis if he succeeds. “The only way that we reduce demand is if we’re providing treatment and thinking about this as a public health problem and not just a criminal problem,” he said to cheers and applause. Obama also acknowledged that more attention is being paid to addiction as a health issue now that it is seen as a growing threat to white communities, instead of primarily a low-income black and brown police matter. (Davidson, 3/29)

Among the new measures the Obama administration outlined was stepped-up enforcement of laws that require health plans’ coverage of mental-health and substance-abuse treatment to be comparable to medical and surgical benefits. A new rule by the Department of Health and Human Services will improve access to drug treatment for people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by requiring such parity. The move is expected to benefit more than 23 million people, according to the White House. (Campo-Flores, 3/29)

The problem affects all age groups and rural, urban and suburban areas, he said. Rural areas, though, are especially hard hit, he added. Obama noted that the administration has allocated about $94 million in new funds to 271 community health centers (including two in Georgia) to expand treatment for drug addiction. “We’re putting enormous resources’’ into stopping illegal drugs from entering the country, Obama said. But he added, “Treatment is greatly underfunded.” (Miller, 3/29)

During an emotional and often intensely personal panel discussion, President Obama listened Tuesday as a 35-year-old mother of two described her descent from prescription drugs into heroin addiction. “It slowly happened,” said Crystal Oertle of Ohio as she sat beside the president. “It is crazy to think of the things I did, but it was necessary for me to function.… I’ve had to steal. I have stolen from department stores to feed my habit. I have been involved in drug busts a couple of times.” She has now marked a year of recovery. (Jaffe, 3/29)

After getting shot in the leg at age 18 during a gang fight in Tacoma, Washington, Raymond Power found relief in OxyContin and Percocet. When the prescription painkillers became too expensive, he found a cheaper alternative: heroin. (Hotakainen, 3/29)