West Virginia Watch, Beckley Register-Herald – Provisional data shows that overdose deaths in West Virginia declined by an astonishing 43.5% in the last year. Nationally, overdose deaths fell 27% over the same period, the largest one-year decline ever. While researchers are still analyzing the data, declines in overdose deaths have coincided with increased Medicaid coverage for substance use disorder treatment, with West Virginia leading the way in using Medicaid and the federal dollars it brings into the state to address our people’s needs and improve overdose outcomes. But those gains will be stalled or even reversed if the Medicaid provisions in Congress’ reconciliation package are made law — taking away the most effective tool we have to save lives and help our people recover from tens of thousands of West Virginians.
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Medicaid funding plays a critical role in West Virginia’s efforts to treat substance use disorder and prevent overdose deaths. The Mountain State was the first in the nation to receive approval under the Trump Administration in 2017 to use flexibilities within the Medicaid program to provide substance use treatment. Now, Medicaid is the main source of health coverage for opioid use disorder, covering more than half of all adults receiving medication for opioid use disorder and two-thirds of those receiving outpatient treatment and peer support services.
The Medicaid expansion, the portion of the program that is most directly under threat in the proposal moving through Congress, has given many West Virginians who struggle with addiction their first real opportunity to access the treatment they need. Nearly three-fourths of West Virginians who receive treatment for substance use disorder are covered through the Medicaid expansion, and one study found that, even after controlling for other policies to address substance use disorder, expansion states have seen a much larger reduction in overdose deaths (9.5%) than non-expansion states.
