Congressional Quarterly (2/21, Raman, Subscription Publication) reports, “Average Medicaid spending on opioid use disorder treatment increased 25.1 percent per year” since 2010, “with the fastest growth from 2014 to 2016,” according to an analysis conducted by the Urban Institute. The article says a contributing factor “is the expansion of eligibility.” Some 37 states have expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Data show that “between 2013 and 2017 in Medicaid expansion states, the amount Medicaid spent on opioid use disorder nearly tripled.” Meanwhile, Medicaid spending doubled in non-expansion states. The piece adds that between 2010 and 2017, “Medicaid spending on two of the three most common types of medication-assisted treatment to help people using opioids – buprenorphine and naltrexone – and the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone jumped from $190 million to $887.6 million.”
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— “Congresional Quarterly (Requires Login and Subscription)