A new study released on Jan. 10 linked Medicaid expansion programs through the Affordable Care Act to a six percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths in the states that implemented it.
To break down the study, medical ethicist Art Caplan joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
"Trump keeps pounding on the idea that Obamacare is a gigantic failure, and keeps encouraging Congress to chip away at it, and ultimately to get rid of it," said Caplan, noting that the evidence in the study made a case for expanded healthcare.
"I don't know why people should be startled about this but at least we have a hard number now, if you extend coverage to very poor people and their children, then they're going to get more Naloxone prescriptions, the antidote to opioid overdose, they're going to get more admissions for mental health support, they're going to get into more drug programs," said Caplan. "Health insurance is definitely a gateway drug to reducing drug addiction."
Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center.
