Medicaid Responds To The Opioid Epidemic: Regulating Prescribing And Finding Ways To Expand Treatment Access

Medicaid programs are at the center of the opioid epidemic. Nearly 12 percent of adults covered by Medicaid have a substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder. Available data suggest that Medicaid beneficiaries are prescribed painkillers at higher rates than non-Medicaid patients and have a higher risk of overdose, from both prescription opioids and illegal versions including heroin and fentanyl. In addition to the human toll, abuse of opioids has significant financial effects. In 2010, Arizona Medicaid paid for more than half of all opioid-related emergency department admissions, and in 2012, 81 percent of the $1.5 billion in nationwide hospital costs related to neonatal abstinence syndrome fell to Medicaid. To better understand underlying Medicaid prescription opioid utilization, expenditures, and enrollee characteristics, and help inform policies to respond to the crisis, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) looked at Medicaid claims data from calendar year 2010-2012, the most recent year for which such data are available at the national level. We found a small reduction in the number of opioid prescriptions. And newer data from other sources of prescribing and dispensing patterns also show a decline in opioid prescriptions. While these data do not capture illicit use of prescription opioids, continued tracking will help us better understand if policies aimed at inappropriate prescribing are having their desired effect. In the meantime, howeve...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Medicaid and CHIP Public Health opioid epidemic preferred drug lists prescription drug abuse prescription drug monitoring programs prior authorization requirements Section 1115 Waivers Source Type: blogs