FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 14, 2025

 

REPORT: New Data Show Role of Medicaid – Especially Medicaid Expansion – in Combating the Fentanyl Crisis 

Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Jeopardize Progress in Combating the Fentanyl Crisis by Cutting People Off From Addiction Treatment

WASHINGTON – The Joint Economic Committee – Minority today released a report with new data on Medicaid’s role in combating the opioid epidemic and fentanyl crisis. The report finds that about one million people receive the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment through Medicaid, and that more than 60 percent of these individuals are only eligible for Medicaid through Medicaid Expansion. 

Addiction treatment has contributed to the recent decline in overdose-related deaths, but President Trump and Congressional Republicans have proposed Medicaid cuts that would jeopardize this progress. These cuts also run counter to the Trump Administration’s newly released drug policy priority of increasing access to medication treatment for opioid use disorder, the gold standard of opioid addiction treatment.

“The Trump Administration and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle agree that access to addiction treatment is a critical tool in combatting the fentanyl crisis – and as this new report highlights, Medicaid is what enables one million people to get medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, the gold standard of addiction care,” said Senator Maggie Hassan, Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee. “President Trump and Congressional Republicans have proposed gutting Medicaid — in order to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires — which would jeopardize addiction care just as our country is finally starting to see progress in addressing the fentanyl crisis.”

Read the full Joint Economic Committee – Minority report here. Key findings:

• New data shared with the Committee — as detailed in state-by-state data in the report on pages 6 and 7 — show that in 2022 through Medicaid, roughly 1 million individuals received medication treatment for opioid use disorder, the gold standard of treatment.
  • The true number for that year was likely larger, as data limitations prevented researchers from including figures for New York or Illinois. In addition, many more individuals with Medicaid coverage also received other forms of addiction and overdose treatment.
  • As the report details, people who receive medication treatment for opioid use disorder experience improved employment and health outcomes. 

• Committee calculations show that about 60 percent of Medicaid enrollees who receive medication treatment for opioid use disorder are only eligible for Medicaid because of Medicaid Expansion. 
  • As the report details, prescriptions for opioid use disorder treatment increased after Medicaid Expansion.

• Given “trigger laws” that would automatically end Medicaid Expansion in some states if federal funding for Medicaid is cut, the Committee estimates that more than 100,000 people currently receiving medication treatment for opioid use disorder could automatically lose access to such treatment.
  • The report calculates specific figures for trigger law states of Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, Virginia, Arizona, New Mexico, Iowa, and Idaho.