While the opioid epidemic impacts all income levels,
Medicaid is the largest source of behavioral
health care and opioid
addiction treatment. However that rate varies considerably by state, according
to an analysis
by STAT News. Connecticut Medicaid pays for 44.3% of opioid agonist (buprenorphine)
prescriptions compared to the national average of 24.2%. Connecticut is just
below the national average in opioid prescription use per population (611 per
1,000 residents vs. US average of 695) but well above the national average in
the rate of opioid treatments compared to opiid prescriptions (CT 9.7 treatment
Rx per 100 opioid Rx, vs. 5.6 national average). Proposed changes to Medicaid
in Congress could reduce Medicaid’s ability to address the epidemic by reducing
the number of people covered, and eliminating the requirement to cover mental health
and substance abuse treatment.
