Editor’s Note: For payers and policy-makers it can be a challenge to design effective opioid epidemic measures to control the rapid increase of overdoses as program effectiveness data is being accumulated. Staying abreast as to how opioid prescription control policies are evaluated for effectiveness, payers can be more efficient in their policymaking. Click HERE and discuss how BHM helps track claims data for payers. 

opioid epidemic

West Virginia has the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses among U.S. states, with 49.6 per 100,000 individuals, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The ranking is based on data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The data include deaths from both legally prescribed and illegally produced fentanyl.

The age-adjusted opioid overdose death rate for the U.S. was 14.9 per 100,000 individuals.

Here are the fatal opioid overdose rates in each state and the District of Columbia for 2017 (the most recent data available), ranked by overdose death rate per 100,000 individuals:

1. West Virginia — 49.6
2. Ohio — 39.2
3. District of Columbia — 34.7
4. New Hampshire — 34
5. Maryland — 32.2
6. Maine — 29.9
7. Massachusetts — 28.2
8. Kentucky — 27.9
9. Delaware — 27.8
10. Connecticut — 27.7
11. Rhode Island — 26.9
12. New Jersey — 22
13. Michigan — 21.2
13. Pennsylvania — 21.2
15. Vermont — 20
16. North Carolina — 19.8
17. Tennessee — 19.3
18. Indiana — 18.8
19. Illinois — 17.2
20. Wisconsin — 16.9
21. New Mexico — 16.7
22. Missouri — 16.5
23. Florida — 16.3
24. New York — 16.1
25. South Carolina — 15.5
25. Utah — 15.5
27. Virginia — 14.8
28. Alaska — 13.9
29. Arizona — 13.5
30. Nevada — 13.3
31. Oklahoma — 10.2
32. Colorado — 10
33. Georgia — 9.7
34. Washington — 9.6
35. Louisiana — 9.3
36. Alabama — 9
37. Wyoming — 8.7
38. Oregon — 8.1
39. Minnesota — 7.8
40. Iowa — 6.9
41. Arkansas — 6.5
42. Mississippi — 6.4
43. Idaho — 6.2
44. California — 5.3
45. Kansas — 5.1
45. Texas — 5.1
47. North Dakota — 4.8
48. South Dakota — 4.0
49. Montana — 3.6
50. Hawaii — 3.4
51. Nebraska — 3.1

For payers and policy-makers it can be a challenge to design effective opioid epidemic measures to control the rapid increase of overdoses as program effectiveness data is being accumulated. Staying abreast as to how opioid prescription control policies are evaluated for effectiveness, payers can be more efficient in their policymaking. Click HERE and discuss how BHM helps track claims data for payers.