The Opium for the Poor Is Opium. Medicare Providers in States with Low Income Prescribe High Levels of Opiates

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Medicare opioid prescribing patterns vary across states, revealing a strong correlation between higher prescription rates and lower state median household incomes, highlighting socioeconomic influences on opioid use.

Contribution

It demonstrates a significant link between state income levels and Medicare opioid prescriptions, providing new insights into socioeconomic factors affecting opioid prescribing patterns.

Findings

54% of variance in prescriptions explained by state median income

Alabama has the highest opioid claims among states

Hawaii has the lowest opioid claims among states

Abstract

The majority of Medicare opioid prescriptions originate with family practice and internal medicine providers. I show that the average number of Medicare opium prescriptions by these providers vary strongly by state and that 54% of the variance is accounted for by the state median household income. I also show that there is a very similar relationship in opioid claims per capita and per Medicare recipient. In all cases Alabama is the state with the most claims and Hawaii is the state with the least claims.