Opioid Use Disorder: Barriers to Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Access to Treatment Medications

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has prioritized expanding access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) as an evidence-based treatment. Because many individuals with OUD are Medicaid beneficiaries, this U.S. Governmental Accountability Office report looked at state Medicaid policies and state and federal laws that might act as a barrier to Medicaid patients accessing MAT. Continue reading

State Team-Based Care Strategies for Medicaid-Eligible Women

This 2 pager provides a brief overview of state strategies to implement team-based care for pregnant women eligible for Medicaid from the National Academy for State Health Policy. It also gives a brief overview of strategies adopted in Minnesota, Montana, and the District of Columbia with links for additional information. Continue reading

Use of Medicaid Data Sources to Identify and Manage Patients and Providers with Problematic Opioid Behavior

This report examines how 6 state Medicaid agencies have used data to develop strategies to address the opioid crisis. The report describes how states use data from medical and pharmacy claims, prescription drug monitoring projects (PDMPS), health information exchanges (HIE) and admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) databases to identify providers and patients with problematic opioid-related behaviors and what they do to address these behaviors. Case studies of initiatives in South Dakota, Minnesota and Tennessee are featured. Continue reading