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According to a new RAND study, the rollback of Medicaid enhancements during the pandemic is resulting in rising numbers of people ending opioid use disorder treatment. Fewer people are enrolling in these life saving addiction treatment programs.
Some people disenrolling from Medicaid have potentially found other ways of paying for drug treatment. Still, the number of people beginning and continuing opioid use disorder medication treatment declined within six months of Medicaid rescinding the enhancements.
Medicaid Protections Phased Out
The study tracked buprenorphine treatment episodes from 2021 to 2023 as the Medicaid enrollment protections were phased out. Buprenorphine is a widely used opioid disorder treatment medication.
The most recent federal legislation is expected to trigger 10 million Americans losing Medicaid coverage by 2034, making the study findings relevant, according to the study authors.
Bradley D. Stein, the study’s corresponding author, states, “To sustain progress the nation has made against the opioid overdose crisis, it is essential to ensure that individuals who can benefit from life-saving medication continue to receive it.”
The Need for Medication
For those battling fentanyl, heroin and other opioid addictions, medication treatment is the most effective treatment. One of the most commonly prescribed medications for treating opioid use disorder is buprenorphine. About 40% of opioid use disorder treatment for Americans is covered by Medicaid.
Medicaid unwinding (the process of states resuming normal Medicaid enrollment after the mandated COVID-19 pandemic coverage period) is resulting in more than 25 million Americans disenrolling from Medicaid.
RAND researchers studied prescriptions from the District of Columbia and all 50 states that were dispensed at retail pharmacies to identify buprenorphine treatment episodes from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, to examine the role the Medicaid unwinding had in medication treatment for opioid use disorder
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