By Kaitlin Mason
Editors Note: This article reflects the opinions of the writer
Each day, 115 Americans die from opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The national average is 13.3 per 100,000 people, with the highest average in West Virginia at 43.40. Nebraska comes in at the lowest ranking with 2.4.
Although Nebraska is not facing the full magnitude of the opioid epidemic, the average opioid-related deaths have increased in recent years.
Four states, including Nebraska, will vote whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act this election. This would provide coverage to another 90,000 low-income Nebraskans.
New research finds the expansion of Medicaid makes it easier for opioid users to get treatment, including coverage for prescriptions like buprenorphine (Suboxone).
In 2016, those with Medicaid were twice as likely as those with private insurance or no insurance to receive any treatment for their addiction. Nearly a quarter of adults with opioid addiction who had Medicaid coverage received inpatient care, while nearly four in 10 received outpatient care, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Nebraska has only two methadone clinics and does not currently allow Medicaid reimbursement. However, there is much debate on how to best treat opioid addiction.
If medication is the answer, research shows those who receive treatment with prescriptions, including methadone and buprenorphine, are twice as likely to remain in treatment and achieve long-term recovery.
Prescriptions for buprenorphine have had a 70 percent increase in states that have expanded Medicaid.
About 54 million Americans use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. A record 72,000 people died of an opioid-related overdoses in 2017, according to preliminary research by the Centers for Disease Control, up from 63,000 in 2016.
In states that have expanded Medicaid, the rate of uninsured opioid-related hospitalizations has decreased by 79 percent, according to the Centeron Budget and Policy Priorities.
Currently, only one in 10 who want treatment receive it. Medicaid expansion is the first step to getting opioid addicts the necessary treatment.
