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2024 Overdose Deaths ISSUE BRIEF—U.S. Overdose Death Rate Dropped Nearly 30% in Two Years, Driven Largely by Decline in Fentanyl Fatalities

SHADAC has been monitoring trends in the drug overdose and opioid crisis for 10 years; in this new brief, our experts analyze 2024 overdose deaths data, obtained through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) WONDER database, calculating drug… Read More

Konadu-Acheampong, MPH

Stephanie Konadu-Acheampong, MPH joined SHADAC in 2026 as a Data Research Fellow with over eight years of research experience and over six years of experience in the field of public health. At SHADAC, she is responsible for data analysis, monitoring, and management, as well as translating complex… Read More

Rising Health Insurance Costs: Family Employer-Sponsored Insurance (ESI) Premiums Grow at Over Twice the Rate Seen Last Year

This post is a part of our Survey Data Season series where we examine data from various surveys that are released annually from the summer through early fall. Find all of the Survey Data Season series posts on our Survey Data Season 2026 page here.  … Read More

Survey Data Season 2026

Beginning in June and going through September, data from many major federal surveys—including the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Systems (BRFSS), the Current… Read More

Despite Declining Rates of Fatal Drug Overdoses, Inequities Persist Among Demographic Subgroups and By Drug Type Into 2024

Despite Declining Rates of Fatal Drug Overdoses, Inequities Persist Among Demographic Subgroups and By Drug Type Into 2024New Data by Education Show Disproportionate Burden on People With a High School Diploma or Less, Consistently Across All Types of DrugsSince their rapid ascent and tragic peak… Read More

More Than 40 States Recorded Declines in 2024 Fatal Drug Overdoses Since Deaths Peaked in 2022

More Than 40 States Recorded Declines in 2024 Fatal Drug Overdoses Since Deaths Peaked in 2022Drop in Overdose Death Rates Was Driven Largely by Ebbing Fentanyl Deaths; Fewer States Saw Declines in Cocaine and Methamphetamine DeathsSince their rapid ascent and tragic peak during the COVID-19… Read More

U.S. Overdose Death Rate Dropped Nearly 30% in Two Years, Driven Largely by Decline in Fentanyl Fatalities

U.S. Overdose Death Rate Dropped Nearly 30% in Two Years, Driven Largely by Decline in Fentanyl FatalitiesCocaine and Methamphetamine Account for a Growing Share of Drug Overdose DeathsSince their rapid ascent and tragic peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. drug overdose deaths have dropped… Read More

More Minnesotans Are Worried About Losing Health Insurance Coverage

The latest Minnesota Health Access Survey (MNHA) shows that 12.3% of insured Minnesotans are worried about losing health insurance coverage in 2025, a statistically significant increase from 7.7% in 2023. The uninsured rate also rose in 2025 for the first time since 2017, reaching 5.8% after an all… Read More

What Is Chronic Disease? Exploring Chronic Disease Definitions and Prevalence in the United States Using State Health Compare

Basics BlogSHADAC has created a series of “Basics Blogs” to familiarize readers with common terms, concepts, and topics that are frequently covered. See all Basics Blogs here.    Following advancements in public health and medicine that reduced… Read More

Discrimination in Health Care Impacts Almost Half of Minnesotans, According to Findings from 2024 Minnesota Healthcare Experiences Survey

A recent survey conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota found that almost half of Minnesotans have experienced health care discrimination. The 2024 Minnesota Healthcare Experiences Survey… Read More

Davern

Erin Davern joined SHADAC in 2026 and is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering. She is interested in health care policy research and data analysis.Outside of work, she enjoys all sorts of… Read More

Significance Testing Using State Health Compare

Originally published December 2016.Updated July 2026 by SHADAC Research Assistant Zoë Pringle.This technical brief provides guidance on how to run tests for statistically significant differences using estimates and their associated margins of error from SHADAC’s… Read More

H.R.1 Medicaid Implementation: An Administrative Cost Monitoring Guide for States (SHVS Cross-Post)

The following is cross-posted from State Health & Value Strategies.  Authors: Emily Zylla and Elizabeth Lukanen, SHADACOriginal posting date July 6, 2026. Find the full post here on the SHVS website. Passed in July 2025, H.R. 1 dictates several large-… Read More

How Does the U.S. Measure Child Vaccinations? A Look at the National Immunization Survey (NIS)—with New 2024 Data

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) is a vital resource for understanding child and adolescent vaccination coverage rates in the U.S., as well as perceptions of vaccines and potential reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The NIS is actually a group of surveys that are conducted in a partnership… Read More

Using Census Data via the Minnesota Community and Uninsured Profile to Spot Vulnerabilities

With funding from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) recently released an updated version of the Minnesota Community and Uninsured Profile tool. This tool, available for download here, now includes the most up-to-date data… Read More

Brief Series—Actionable Strategies for State Data Professionals Navigating Federal Data Gaps

In the wake of a dynamic environment for federal data infrastructure, state health policy professionals face growing uncertainties around the availability, scope, and quality of critical health surveys. To help state data users adapt to this changing federal data landscape, SHADAC’s State… Read More

Housing Affordability 2024 Infographics: State-Level Rates of Unaffordable Rent in Florida, Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont by Disability Status, Medicaid Enrollment, and More

On SHADAC’s data tool State Health Compare, our researchers and experts perform analysis on data from over 15 sources to populate 40+ measures of health care coverage, access, and utilization, and social and economic factors that can influence health, such as food… Read More

Housing Affordability in the United States: Exploring Unaffordable Rent in 2024 Using State Health Compare

As the cost of living in the U.S. continues to rise, housing and health care affordability have also been increasingly impacted. For example, a new resource from the U.S. Census Bureau used 5-year ACS estimates to determine that the median rent across the U.S. increased by $100 a month during 2020–… Read More

Broadband Expansion and the Digital Divide: Has There Been Progress in Expanding Access to Low-Income Households in the U.S.?

IntroductionThe onset of the COVID-19 pandemic underscored and increased the importance of telehealth services to people across the U.S., as well as the crucial role of broadband internet subscriptions in making those services possible. Suddenly, in early 2020, actions designed to protect public… Read More

Painton

Elise Painton joined SHADAC in 2026 and is a second-year MPH student in the Public Health Administration and Policy program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Her academic interests include the social and political determinants of health, legal epidemiology, and the role of… Read More