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  • Teens, Drugs, and Overdose: Contrasting Pre-Pandemic and Current Trends

    Issue Brief

    This brief analyzes the latest CDC data on adolescent overdose deaths, finding that from 2022 to 2023, there was a small reduction in overdose fatalities among adolescents (from 721 to 708 deaths). Additionally, the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has largely driven the increase in adolescent drug fatalities since the pandemic began, accounting for 76% of these fatalities in 2023. This analysis also explores federal and state policy responses to the drug crisis, such as requirements to stock naloxone in schools, accountability for social media companies, and national prevention education efforts.

  • Opioid Use Disorder among Medicaid Enrollees: Snapshot of the Epidemic and State Responses

    Issue Brief

    As the largest payer of substance use disorder services in the United States, Medicaid plays a central role in state efforts to address the opioid epidemic. In addition to increasing access to addiction treatment services through the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), states are expanding Medicaid addiction treatment services, increasing provider reimbursements, restricting opioid prescribing, and implementing delivery system reforms to improve the quality of treatment services. While many states have been tracking progress and challenges in these efforts, uniqueness of state systems can make it difficult to compare or benchmark across states. This brief draws on analyses provided by the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN), a collaborative effort to analyze data across multiple states to facilitate learning among Medicaid agencies. It profiles the opioid epidemic among the Medicaid population in six states participating in MODRN that also have been hard hit by the opioid epidemic: Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The brief also draws on interviews with officials from the state Medicaid and other health agencies.

  • State Options for Medicaid Coverage of Inpatient Behavioral Health Services

    Report

    This report provides data to understand current patterns of Medicaid enrollees’ use of inpatient and outpatient substance use disorder and mental health treatment services; explains the options for states to access federal Medicaid funds for enrollees receiving IMD services; analyzes current Section 1115 waiver activity; and draws on interviews with policymakers using IMD waivers in Vermont, Virginia, and San Diego County to examine successes and challenges

  • Governors’ Proposed Budgets for FY 2019: Focus on Medicaid and Other Health Priorities

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides Medicaid highlights from governors’ proposed budgets for state fiscal year (FY) 2019 (July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 in most states). Proposed budgets reflect the priorities of the governor and are often blueprints for the legislature to consider. In total, we reviewed 39 proposed state budgets and text from 46 state of the state speeches. This review revealed that while state revenue collections improved in 2017 compared to 2016, considerable economic and regional variation persists, many states are facing significant budget challenges unrelated to Medicaid such as unfunded pension liabilities or falling oil prices, and the outlook for 2018 remains uncertain due, in part, to the impacts of the 2017 Federal Tax Reform Act.