Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion and opioid use

Opioid deaths are less likely to occur in states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study. According to the study, Adoption of Medicaid expansion was associated with a 6% lower rate of total opioid overdose deaths compared with the rate in nonexpansion states... Counties in expansion states had an 11% lower rate of death involving heroin… and a 10% lower rate of death involving synthetic opioids other than methadone… compared with counties in nonexpansion states. In addition, Medicaid expansion, the study found, has made treatment for substance abuse disorders more widely available. [...]