Drug Overdose Death Rate Among Medicaid Beneficiaries Twice As High As Other Populations

In 2020, the drug overdose death rate among Medicaid beneficiaries was 54.6 per 100,000 individuals (44,277 of 91,783 overdose deaths), a rate that was twice as high as the drug overdose rate among all US residents (27.9 per 100,000). In 2020, Medicaid beneficiaries comprised 25% of the U.S. population (81,071,574 of 329,484,123 individuals). Medicaid beneficiaries accounted for 25% of the population but 48% (44,277 of 91,799) of all overdose deaths nationwide.

From 2016 through 2020, the overdose rate among Medicaid beneficiaries increased by 54.2%, from 35 . . .