title: Survey Highlights Differences In Medicaid Coverage For Substance Use Treatment And Opioid Use Disorder Medications.
abstract: The Affordable Care Act requires state Medicaid programs to cover substance use disorder treatment for their Medicaid expansion population but allows states to decide which individual services are reimbursable. To examine how states have defined substance use disorder benefit packages, we used data from 2013-14 that we collected as part of an ongoing nationwide survey of state Medicaid programs. Our findings highlight important state-level differences in coverage for substance use disorder treatment and opioid use disorder medications across the United States. Many states did not cover all levels of care required for effective substance use disorder treatment or medications required for effective opioid use disorder treatment as defined by American Society of Addiction Medicine criteria, which could result in lack of access to needed services for low-income populations.
authors.affiliation: Colleen M. Grogan (cgrogan@uchicago.edu) is a professor at the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, in Illinois.
authors.forename: Colleen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Grogan
authors.affiliation: Christina Andrews is an assistant professor at the College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, in Columbia.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Amanda Abraham is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia, in Athens.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.affiliation: Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Department of Psychiatry at the Stanford School of Medicine, in California.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Humphreys
authors.affiliation: Harold A. Pollack is the Helen Ross Professor at the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago.
authors.forename: Harold A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.affiliation: Bikki Tran Smith is a doctoral student at the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago.
authors.forename: Bikki Tran
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Peter D. Friedmann is chief research officer at Baystate Health, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Friedmann
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: Access To Care; Disparities; Health Reform; Medicaid; Mental Health/Substance Abuse