The Affordable Care Act, Public Insurance Expansion and Opioid Overdose Mortality

McInerney, Mark

The Affordable Care Act, Public Insurance Expansion and Opioid Overdose Mortality

No 2017-23, Working papers from University of Connecticut, Department of Economics

Abstract: This study examines the impact of expanded public insurance, resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, on opioid related mortality. I utilize variation in states’ decisions to expand Medicaid and variation in the timing of expansion among expanding states to measure this impact. Opioid related mortality data are examined from 1999-2015 using the National Vital Statistics multiple cause of death files. My findings suggest that public insurance expansion led to reductions in opioid related overdose deaths for heroin and other narcotics by about 26% and increases in methadone related deaths by about 18%. My study builds on recent work that shows increases in prescriptions to treat opioid use disorder in expanding states relative to non-expanding states.

Keywords: Opioids; Substance Use Disorder; Medicaid; Medicaid Expansion; Public Insurance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I12 I13 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uct:uconnp:2017-23

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