Nearly one-third of Medicaid recipients dealing with opioid addiction are not being treated with medication, according to a report released Sept. 29 by HHS.
The report drew from 2021 enrollment, eligibility and claims data and found that more than 500,000 Medicaid enrollees with opioid use disorders do not receive medications for addiction such as methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone.
The report also found that Black or African Americans were less likely to receive medication treatment despite having significant increases in overdose deaths. In the 15 states that included data on race and ethnicity, only 53 percent of Black patients received medication, compared to 70 percent of white enrollees.