Senate Report: Obamacare and Medicaid Expansion Contributed to the Opioid Epidemic
Obamacare
The Senate Homeland Security Committee released  a report in mid-January that received surprisingly little media attention despite its provocative assertion that Obamacare  and particularly its enormous expansion of Medicaid  is a driving force behind the opioid epidemic .
The case laid out by  the report  is straightforward  logical  and politically unspeakable. It’s an argument generally made in hushed tones until now  and it’s easy to see why. Even the Senate Homeland Security report was swiftly denounced as a “partisan fantasy” peddled by chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) in what little mainstream media coverage it received. Thou shalt not speak ill of Medicaid.
And yet  the critics could find no way to refute the actual data in the report. They denounced it with thunderous virtue-signaling outrage  attacked those involved in preparing it  criticized arguments it did not make – such as pretending the report claims the opioid epidemic was caused by Medicaid expansion  rather than exacerbated by it – or simply assumed that all critiques of Medicaid and Obamacare must be partisan hit jobs  Q.E.D.
Ask if a massive government program that makes it much easier for over one-fifth of the population to get drugs could be part of the problem  however  and you’re a hyper-partisan monster who really just wants to kill poor people by taking away their Obamacare. The Senate committee demonstrated its understanding of just how hot this political potato is by filling the early pages of the report with lavish praise for Medicaid and its good intentions  and repeatedly stating that government spending on drugs is but one factor in a complex crisis that deserves careful analysis.
The most provocative section of the report introduces facts and figures to buttress the argument that opioid abuse has grown worse in states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee released  [TGT]is a driving force behind the opioid epidemic .
The case laid out by  [TGT]is straightforward  logical  and politically unspeakable. It’s an argument generally made in hushed tones until now  and it’s easy to see why. Even the Senate Homeland Security report was swiftly denounced as a “partisan fantasy” peddled by chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) in what little mainstream media coverage it received. Thou shalt not speak ill of Medicaid.
And yet  the critics could find no way to refute the actual data in the report. They denounced it with thunderous virtue-signaling outrage  attacked those involved in preparing it  criticized arguments it did not make – such as pretending the report claims the opioid epidemic was caused by Medicaid expansion  rather than exacerbated by it – or simply assumed that all critiques of Medicaid and Obamacare must be partisan hit jobs  Q.E.D.
Ask if a massive government program that makes it much easier for over one-fifth of the population to get drugs could be part of the problem  however  and you’re a hyper-partisan monster who really just wants to kill poor people by taking away their [TGT]. The Senate committee demonstrated its understanding of just how hot this political potato is by filling the early pages of the report with lavish praise for Medicaid and its good intentions  and repeatedly stating that government spending on drugs is but one factor in a complex crisis that deserves careful analysis.
The most provocative section of the report introduces facts and figures to buttress the argument that opioid abuse has grown worse in states that expanded Medicaid under [TGT].