HHS OIG finds Medicaid and physicians limit access to MOUD

Abstract

A new report has found that even patients with insurance coverage, especially from Medicaid in certain states, are less likely to receive medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) because providers are just unwilling to treat them. Young people are most likely particularly victims of this bias, which is understandable on the part of physicians who have not been trained in prescribing buprenorphine. (Methadone can only be prescribed for OUD in certain specific treatment centers called opioid treatment programs, which also dispense the medication.)