As a growing number of newborns are being born addicted to painkillers, Texas lawmakers are considering measures to combat the painful and costly problem.
Texas documented 1,009 Medicaid-covered babies born in 2013 suffering from the sudden withdrawal from prescription opioids, called neonatal abstinence syndrome. That's an 18 percent increase since 2011. The state though doesn't track the number of babies with the syndrome who aren't covered by Medicaid.
Taxpayers in Texas spend tens of millions of dollars each year on hospitalizations for babies born with the syndrome whose births were covered by Medicaid, the federal-state program for needy, disabled and poor pregnant women and children. On average, those births tend to cost 10 times what other Medicaid births cost.
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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
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