Opiate problems in Ohio Medicaid patients have quadrupled in recent years:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The number of Medicaid recipients diagnosed with opioid addiction, abuse or overdoses has quadrupled from 2010 to 2016, according to a new report from Ohio Auditor Dave Yost's office.

The report looked at Medicaid claims data over the six-year period for trends in the state's opioid epidemic. A Blue Cross Blue Shield 2017 report was used to compare Medicaid to the commercially insured population.

Halfway through this period of study, in 2013, Governor John Kasich decided to expand Medicaid to more low-income Ohioans under the Affordable Care Act. Today, about 3 million people in the state receive health care program.

Yost, a Republican candidate for the post of Attorney General, has not taken a stand on the expansion, said his spokesman. When he is elected to this post, he will defend Ohio's law in court, said spokesman Carlo LoParo.

The report found that opioid dosages for Ohio residents with private insurance were similar to those of Medicaid. However, Medicaid recipients required treatment for abuse, addiction or overdose at a higher rate than commercial insureds – 26.5 per 1000 Medicaid patients, versus 8.3 per 1000 commercially insured patients .

"Because addiction often leads to loss of employment and the loss of private and commercial insurance, many addicts fall under Medicaid for the treatment of opioid addiction," the report says. "The quadruple increase in the number of Medicaid recipients suffering from an opioid-related diagnosis extends the state's safety net, with a staggering 639% increase in the use of drug therapy over a six-year period." . "

Among the other conclusions of the report:

• Between 2013, at the time when the expansion began, and in 2016, opioid prescriptions in Ohio went from $ 40 million to just under $ 240 million, a 255% increase. Last year, Kasich announced new prescription rules for opioids.
• From 2010 to 2016, the number of Medicaid patients receiving drug treatment for addiction increased from 6,500 to almost 48,000, an increase of 639%. In 2016, 45 percent of additional Medicaid beneficiaries received drug treatment within six months of a diagnosis of addiction, abuse, or overdose compared to 2010.
• From 2010 to 2016, the number of women with opioid-related problems increased by 194%. For men, the increase was 366%.
• Opioid prescriptions for Ohio Medicaid patients are shorter than national averages for commercially insured persons: 99% of Medicaid doses were 30 days or less, and 74% of commercial insureds had prescribing durations of 30 days or less.
• Almost no prescription has been written for Ohio Medicaid beneficiaries for more than 90 days, while 45% of the commercially insured population has taken medication for more than 90 days.
• About 95% of Ohio Medicaid patients received low doses of opioids; 93% of commercially insured patients received low dose prescriptions.

John Corlett, a former Medicaid director who now runs a Cleveland health center, the Center for Community Solutions, said Yost's report underscores the importance of Medicaid in the fight against cancer. State against the Addiction Epidemic.

"This reinforces the earlier research of the Ohio Medicaid Department, which showed that the Medicaid expansion had improved access to care, accounting for nearly $ 1 out of every 3 dollars that the United States had. State uses to fight addiction ". "If we were to end the Medicaid expansion in Ohio, we would literally stop processing for thousands of Ohio residents who are trying to break the stranglehold of drug addiction."