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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsREPUBLICANS ARE BLAMING OBAMACARE FOR THE OPIOID CRISIS
BY NICOLE GOODKIND at Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/obamacare-opioids-republicans-senate-783803
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Republicans are asserting that the Medicaid expansion is responsible for the American opioid epidemica line of argument against President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act that experts say is dead wrong.
The Republican argumentrepeated at a Wednesday's hearing of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committeecenters on the fact that the Medicaid expansion gave unemployed Americans better access to medical treatment and prescription medications, which, some claim, got them hooked.
By this argument, Obamacare directly or indirectly contributed to the 63,632 overdose deaths caused by opioids in 2016. It's unclear what percentage of those deaths Republicans claim were caused to the Medicaid expansion.
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Lawmakers never intended this, but Im guessing there will be many who will not want to acknowledge it, said Republican Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the committee. Why? Because Obamacare included a large-scale expansion of Medicaid. During the 2017 debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare, proponents of expansion cited its role in funding treatment for addiction.
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applegrove
(118,778 posts)Eliot Rosewater
(31,121 posts)global1
(25,270 posts)Georgia. They'll try anything. Don't they know that the majority of the American Public is on to them by now?
Initech
(100,102 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,529 posts)herding cats
(19,567 posts)Which led to an increase of prescriptions, and subuquent additions. Then the crackdown of pharmaceuticals in 2014 - 2016 lead to the rise of heroin use.
The problem was created by greedy pharmaceutical companies who were in it for profits. There are other mitigating factors, but this is the primary cause.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...Purdue (the Sackler family) ARE THE OPIOID CRISIS.
Those are the ones who dominated the opioid market.
Thanks for the article, Id not read it before.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...to date, several of the non-family executives have had to pay huge fines for basically saying OxyContin was "non-addictive," when they were well aware that it was one of the most addictive drugs on the market. To my knowledge, the Sacklers have kept themselves very insulated from the fall-out.
Raster
(20,998 posts)herding cats
(19,567 posts)spanone
(135,874 posts)Freddie
(9,273 posts)By enabling addicts to get treatment, including my son, who could stay on my work plan til 26. If he didn't have access to treatment he'd be gone. I hate republicans with the white hot heat of a thousand suns.