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The Obama administration said on Tuesday that it would ask Congress to spend an additional $1.1 billion next year to combat a growing epidemic of prescription painkiller and heroin abuse. Almost half of the new money would be used to expand treatment facilities, which are in short supply in much of the nation. (Harris, 2/2)

The centerpiece of the proposal is $1 billion in mandatory funding over two years to expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use, $920 million of which would go to the states. Another $500 million, some of which is a continuation of existing funds, would support work by the departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to expand not just treatment but access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, and support targeted enforcement activities. (Eilperin, 2/2)

President Obama will seek an extra $1.1 billion to pay for drug treatment for people addicted to opioid medications and heroin, which the White House says kills more people than automobile crashes, officials said Tuesday. This funding includes $920 million to support cooperative agreements with states to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders [and] $50 million in National Health Service Corps funding to expand access to about 700 substance use treatment providers. (O'Donnell, 2/2)

The White House is proposing more than $1 billion in new funding to fight heroin and opioid drug abuse. (Horsley, 2/2)

Congressional Republicans said on Tuesday that they’re open to boosting federal funding for cancer research, as the Obama administration proposed the day before. But they aren’t willing to simply rubberstamp the $755 million that the White House is asking for in the next fiscal year. (Scott, 2/2)