By Jennifer Ryan, Vice President; Tanya Schwartz, Director, Medicaid Policy; and Molly Brassil, Director, Behavioral Health Policy

One would need to be completely “off the grid” to not be aware of the opioid crisis that has overtaken the country. Alarming and heart wrenching stories about the surprising range of victims of the substance use epidemic top the news headlines on a daily basis. The death rate due to drug overdoses has exceeded car accidents as the leading cause of death among adults under age 50 – since 2000, the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids (opioid pain relievers and heroin) has increased by 200%.