Synthetic Estimates of Substance Use Treatment Need in Washington State

This report provides synthetic estimates of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment need among the low-income population in Washington State. By calibrating need estimates derived from Medicaid data to SUD prevalence rates reported by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we produced estimates of SUD treatment need for the Medicaid population as well as the low-income population not enrolled in Medicaid. We found that 4.4 percent of low-income youth and 15.8 percent of low-income adults had SUD treatment need in 2019. Results are presented by county and age group.