The opioid crisis continues to ravage the country, destroying lives. Despite attention from policymakers and the medical community, the crisis hasn’t abated — and some experts predict it will get much worse.
In January, I testified at a hearing on this issue held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. The Committee Chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), had noticed the same thing I had while I worked at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services: States that expanded Medicaid were seeing the largest increases in opioid deaths.