"A look at past expansions to Medicaid appears to challenge claims that expansion under Obamacare helped fuel the current opioid crisis in the United States.
University of Pennsylvania researchers report that Medicaid expansions actually had the opposite effect, and led to reductions in drug overdose deaths.
'These findings suggest that Medicaid expansions were unlikely to have contributed to the subsequent rise in drug overdose deaths, and may even have been protective,' said study lead author Dr. Atheendar Venkataramani, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy."