Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Mortality: Evidence from Variation in Services Offered

In this paper, I estimate the impact of substance abuse treatment facilities on the opioid related death rate and other outcomes that may be impacted by the opioid epidemic. Data from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services is linked with restricted use county level mortality data obtained from the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems. Identifying variation comes from the opening and closing of treatment facilities at the county level. I exploit a new source of variation, variation across treatment facilities based on services offered and insurance type accepted. I find significant heterogeneity across treatment facilities. Treatment centers offering Medication Assisted Treatment and accepting Medicaid have a larger negative impact on the opioid related death rate than other treatment facilities.