Opioid Overdoses among Medicaid Beneficiaries: Predictors, Outcomes, and State Policy Effects

Reducing opioid overdose is an urgent national goal that needs to be supported with the best available understanding of factors that predict overdose; effective clinical management; and productive state policies. This study will use national Medicaid data linked to the National Death Index to identify patient, treatment, and policy factors that affect the risk of overdose and influence outcomes for overdose survivors, and examine effects of an important state policy experiment created by new legislation in New Jersey. By grounding treatment and interventions in a comprehensive and empiric understanding of overdose and post-overdose risk, this study aims to change the paradigm of health system response to the overdose problem to one that is informed by a better understanding of these events and the individuals experiencing them.