Dataset Information

Association Between State Medicaid Eligibility Thresholds and Deaths Due to Substance Use Disorders.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The United States is currently facing an epidemic of deaths related to substance use disorder (SUD), with totals exceeding those due to motor vehicle crashes and gun violence. The epidemic has led to decreased life expectancy in some populations. In recent years, Medicaid eligibility has expanded in some states, and the association of this expansion with SUD-related deaths is yet to be examined.

Objective

To examine the association between eligibility thresholds for state Medicaid coverage and SUD-related deaths.

Design, setting, and participants

Economic evaluation study using a retrospective analysis of state-level data between 2002 and 2015 to determine the association between the Medicaid eligibility threshold and SUD-related deaths, controlling for other relevant policies, state socioeconomic characteristics, fixed effects, and a time trend. Policy variables were lagged by 1 year to allow time for associations to materialize. Data were collected and analyzed from 2016 to 2017.

Exposures

The policy of interest was the state Medicaid eligibility threshold, ie, the highest allowed income that qualifies a person for Medicaid, expressed as a percentage of the federal poverty level. State policies related to mental health, overdose treatment, and law enforcement of drug crimes were included as controls.

Main outcomes and measures

The primary outcome was number of SUD-related deaths, obtained from data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results

Across 700 state-year observations, the mean (SD) number of SUD-related deaths was 21.15 (6.05) per 100?000 population. Between 2002 and 2015, the national SUD-related death rate increased from 16.0 to 27.5 per 100?000, while the average Medicaid eligibility threshold increased from 87.2% to 97.1% of the federal poverty level. Over this period, every 100-percentage point increase in the Medicaid eligibility threshold (eg, from 50% to 150% of the federal poverty level) was associated with 1.373 (95% CI, -2.732 to -0.014) fewer SUD-related deaths per 100?000 residents, a reduction of 6.50%. In the 22 states with net contractions in eligibility thresholds between 2005 and 2015, an estimated increase of 570 SUD-related deaths (95% CI, -143 to 1283) occurred. In the 28 states that increased eligibility thresholds, an estimated 1045 SUD-related deaths (95% CI, -209 to 2299) may have been prevented.

Conclusions and relevance

These findings suggest that the overall increase in SUD-related deaths between 2002 and 2015 may have been greater had the average eligibility threshold for Medicaid not increased over this period. Broader eligibility for Medicaid coverage may be one tool to help reduce SUD-related deaths.

SUBMITTER: Snider JT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6487569 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Association Between State Medicaid Eligibility Thresholds and Deaths Due to Substance Use Disorders.

Snider Julia Thornton JT Duncan Margaret E ME Gore Mugdha R MR Seabury Seth S Silverstein Alison R AR Tebeka Mahlet G MG Goldman Dana P DP

JAMA network open 20190405 4

<h4>Importance</h4>The United States is currently facing an epidemic of deaths related to substance use disorder (SUD), with totals exceeding those due to motor vehicle crashes and gun violence. The epidemic has led to decreased life expectancy in some populations. In recent years, Medicaid eligibility has expanded in some states, and the association of this expansion with SUD-related deaths is yet to be examined.<h4>Objective</h4>To examine the association between eligibility thresholds for sta ...[more]

PMID: 31026034

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Although state Medicaid programs cover cancer screening, Medicaid beneficiaries are less likely to be screened for cancer and are more likely to present with tumors of an advanced stage than are those with other insurance. The current study was performed to determine whether state Medicaid eligibility and reimbursement policies affect the receipt of breast, cervical, and colon cancer screening among Medicaid beneficiaries. METHODS:Cross-sectional regression analyses of 2007 Medicaid data from 46 states and the District of Columbia were performed to examine associations between state-specific Medicaid reimbursement/eligibility policies and receipt of cancer screening. The study sample included individuals aged 21 years to 64 years who were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid for at least 4 months. Subsamples eligible for each screening test were: Papanicolaou test among 2,136,511 patients, mammography among 792,470 patients, colonoscopy among 769,729 patients, and fecal occult blood test among 753,868 patients. State-specific Medicaid variables included median screening test reimbursement, income/financial asset eligibility requirements, physician copayments, and frequency of eligibility renewal. RESULTS:Increases in screening test reimbursement demonstrated mixed associations (positive and negative) with the likelihood of receiving screening tests among Medicaid beneficiaries. In contrast, increased reimbursements for office visits were found to be positively associated with the odds of receiving all screening tests examined, including colonoscopy (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.06-1.08), fecal occult blood test (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.08-1.10), Papanicolaou test (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.02-1.03), and mammography (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.02-1.03). Effects of other state-specific Medicaid policies varied across the screening tests examined. CONCLUSIONS:Increased reimbursement for office visits was consistently associated with an increased likelihood of being screened for cancer, and may be an important policy tool for increasing screening among this vulnerable population.

Dataset Information

Association Between State Medicaid Eligibility Thresholds and Deaths Due to Substance Use Disorders.

Importance

Objective

Design, setting, and participants

Exposures

Main outcomes and measures

Results

Conclusions and relevance

Publications

Association Between State Medicaid Eligibility Thresholds and Deaths Due to Substance Use Disorders.

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