Effects of the ACA on Health Care Coverage for Adults With Substance Use Disorders

The authors assessed changes in health care coverage in nationally representative samples of low- and middle-income adults with and without substance use disorders following the 2014 Affordable Care Act marketplace launch and Medicaid expansion.

Data from the 2012-2018 (N=407,985) National Survey on Drug Use and Health identified low- and middle-income nonelderly adults with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or heroin use disorders. A sociodemographically adjusted difference-in-differences analysis assessed the trends in Medicaid and individually purchased private insurance between adults with and without substance use disorders.

Between 2012-2013 and 2015-2016, the percentages without health insurance significantly declined for adults with substance use disorders (from 27.8% to 18.7%) and for those without these disorders (from 22.6% to 14.6%). These trends were related to gains in Medicaid and in individually purchased private insurance but not to gains in employer-based private insurance coverage. Between 2015-2016 and 2017-2018, however, the percentages without health insurance among adults with substance use disorders (18.7% to 18.4%) and without these disorders (14.7% to 14.7%) was little changed.

With insurance gains having stalled and the downturn of the U.S. economy, there is renewed urgency to extend health care coverage to middle- and low-income adults with substance use disorders that meets their substance use and general health needs.