Study: Most Medicare patients with opioid use disorder do not receive standard care
A Health Affairs found fewer than 40% of Medicare beneficiaries with opioid use disorder received standard care aligning with quality measures. In 2022, 1.9 million Medicare beneficiaries had OUD, and from 2022 to 2023, adults ages sixty-five and older experienced the largest increase in drug overdose of any age group. Researchers analyzed 2020 Medicare enrollment, claims and encounter data to assess the extent to which beneficiaries with OUD received treatment aligning with eight nationally recognized quality measures. Medicare Advantage performed worse than fee-for-service Medicare on six of eight measures, and Medicare performed worse than Medicaid on all three comparable OUD quality measures available. The authors suggest several initiatives to improve OUD treatment for Medicare beneficiaries, including offering enhanced Medicare coverage, enabling more providers to treat beneficiaries with OUD, facilitating care connections following hospitalization or an emergency department visit, and encouraging beneficiaries to seek treatment.