Medicaid and the opioid epidemic: enrollment, spending, and the implications of proposed policy changes
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Young, Katherine, author Zur, Julia, author
- Contributor(s):
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Menlo Park, CA : Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2017
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Care Reform -- economics Health Care Reform -- legislation & jurisprudence Medicaid -- economics Medicaid -- legislation & jurisprudence Opioid-Related Disorders -- epidemiology Opioid-Related Disorders -- therapy Capitation Fee Health Expenditures -- statistics & numerical data State Government Humans United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- The United States is facing an unprecedented opioid epidemic. In 2015, over 2 million people had a prescription opioid addiction and 591,000 had a heroin addiction. The epidemic has resulted in increased health care services utilization and a surge in opioid overdose deaths throughout the country, particularly in Appalachia and New England. Medicaid plays an important role in addressing the epidemic, covering 3 in 10 people with opioid addiction in 2015. Medicaid facilitates access to a number of addiction treatment services, including medications delivered as part of medication-assisted treatment, and it allows many people with opioid addiction to obtain treatment for other health conditions. As of July 2017, 32 states have expanded Medicaid, with enhanced federal funding, to cover adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level ($16,643/year for an individual in 2017). This expanded Medicaid coverage has enabled many states to provide addiction treatment and other health services to low-income adults with opioid addiction who were previously ineligible for coverage. However, the GOP's Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) proposes to restructure the Medicaid program through a per capita cap or block grant, to phase out the enhanced federal funding for the Medicaid expansion population, and to remove the requirement that Medicaid expansion plans cover addiction treatment. The BCRA also appropriates $4.972 billion each year over 9 years for state grants for substance use disorder and mental health treatment and recovery support services. However, even with the additional grant funding, the reduced federal funding for Medicaid could lead to reductions in Medicaid eligibility and coverage of services, affecting state efforts to address the opioid epidemic. This issue brief provides information on the number of Medicaid enrollees with opioid addiction, Medicaid spending on these enrollees, and the implications of the BCRA as states work to combat this public health crisis. Drawing on state-level data available for FY 2013, this brief provides insight into Medicaid's role, but from a time predating the expansion and current focus on the opioid epidemic. Thus effects shown here will undoubtedly understate Medicaid's role today, but provide insight into the scope of Medicaid's impact on the opioid addiction challenge.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (6 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101717014 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101717014