Association of Disability With Mortality From Opioid Overdose Among US Medicare Adults

Key Points Question What is the rate of opioid overdose deaths among Medicare enrollees younger than 65 years who qualified for Medicare because of disability? Findings In this cohort study, the 1 766 790 adult Medicare enrollees who qualified for disability—representing 14.9% of the Medicare population—accounted for 80.8% of all opioid overdose deaths among all Medicare enrollees. Among the 11.1% of the enrollees with disability who had 3 co-occurring conditions of substance abuse, psychiatric diseases, and chronic pain syndrome, the opioid overdose death rate was 23.4 times higher than that for enrollees without any of the conditions. Meaning Understanding the heterogeneity of medical and psychiatric conditions associated with opioid use and misuse is key to developing specific, data-driven interventions targeted for each subgroup of high-risk populations.