First, the ACA guarantees health insurance coverage, regardless of pre-existing conditions. “A person with a history of substance use cannot be denied health coverage,” explained Leighton Ku, a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. And while conservatives have argued that expanding Medicaid made the opioid crisis worse, research published earlier this year comparing expansion states to non-expansion states debunked that claim. Most of all, Saloner stressed that the opioid epidemic, which killed nearly 50,000 Americans in 2017, could have potentially been even worse. “Without Medicaid expansion, I believe that the already devastating opioid crisis would be both more severe and more expensive for state governments,” he said.

Source: Huffington Post December 19, 2018 21:33 UTC