Brown said Medicaid lock-in programs enable the kind of close monitoring needed to prevent high-risk patients from personally abusing or selling opioids.

“In recent years, more Ohioans have died from prescription overdoses than auto accidents,” Brown said. “The national death toll from prescription drug overdose doubled and it has actually tripled in our state. Families want answers and families want help. We know that easy access to prescription drugs has fueled the epidemic that engulfs communities in all 88 counties. This problem does not have to touch another family or take another life.”