Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35131533›Full record

ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2022

Medicaid expansion and drug overdose mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Samantha G Auty, Kevin N Griffith

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  4. The uneven impact of Medicaid expansion on rural and urban Black, Latino/a, and White mortality.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Samantha G AutyDepartment of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. Electronic address: sgauty@bu.edu.
Kevin N GriffithDepartment of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2525 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA; Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 S. Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130, USA.

Funding

Integrated Care for Addiction, HIV and HCV Research and Education (ICAHRE)T32DA041898 · NIDA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI Rachel Sayko Adams, Michael D Stein · 2017 to 2026
$3.8M
Learning Health System Scholar Program at VanderbiltK12HS026395 · AHRQ · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI ROTHMAN, RUSSELL L., ROUMIE, CHRISTIANNE L. · 2018 to 2022
$2.7M
AHRQ HHS K12 HS026395NIDA NIH HHS T32 DA041898
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in the delivery of health services, which may have adversely affected access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services. Medicaid expansion has been previously associated with increased access to SUD services for low-income adults. Thus, the pandemic may have differentially impacted overdose mortality depending on expansion status. This study examined trends in overdose mortality nationally and by state Medicaid expansion status from 2013 to 2020.

methodsState-level data on overdose mortality were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database for 2013-2020 (N = 408 state-years). The primary outcomes were drug and opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents. The primary exposure was Medicaid expansion status as of January 1st, 2020. Difference-in-difference (DID) models were used to compare changes in outcomes between expansion and non-expansion states after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

resultsThe U.S. experienced 91,799 drug overdose deaths in 2020, a 29.9% relative increase from 2019. Expansion states experienced an adjusted increase of 7.0 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents (95% CI 3.3, 10.7) and non-expansion states experienced an increase of 4.3 deaths (95% CI 1.5, 8.2) from 2019 to 2020. Similar trends were observed in opioid overdose deaths. In DID models, Medicaid expansion was not associated with changes in drug (0.9 deaths, 95% CI -2.0, 3.7) or opioid overdose deaths (0.8 deaths, 95% CI -1.8, 3.5).

conclusionsThe increase in drug or opioid overdose deaths experienced during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was similar in states with and without Medicaid expansion.

Indexed as

COVID-19Drug OverdoseAdultAnalgesics, OpioidHumansMedicaidPandemicsSARS-CoV-2United StatesAnalgesics, OpioidCOVID-19MedicaidOpioid use disorderOverdose mortalitySubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID35131533
PMCPMC8809643

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.