Only one in four young adults and teens with opioid use disorder (OUD) are receiving potentially life-saving medications for addiction treatment, according to a new Boston Medical Center (BMC) study published online in JAMA Pediatrics. Buprenorphine and naltrexone are medications used to treat OUD that help prevent relapse and overdose…
Republican Proposed Medicaid Cuts Endanger Addiction Treatment: Experts
Cuts to Medicaid proposed by Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate jeopardize addiction treatment, NPR reports. In Pennsylvania, more than 124,000 residents depend on Medicaid for addiction treatment. The state’s Medicaid program currently pays for addiction treatment with Vivitrol, a monthly injection that costs about $1,000 a dose. A…
Advocates Aim to Protect Insurance Coverage for Addiction Treatment
Addiction treatment advocates are trying to convince Republican legislators in states greatly impacted by the opioid epidemic to protect insurance coverage for substance abuse treatment if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed. Repealing the ACA without having a plan in place to preserve coverage would weaken efforts to address…
Police Programs Focusing on Treatment Over Jail May Lose Support Under Trump
Police organizations promoting an approach to opioids that emphasizes treatment over jail are concerned the incoming Trump Administration may focus on prosecution rather than treatment, Scientific American reports. So-called ANGEL programs, which started in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 2015, have been expanded to hundreds of police departments nationwide. The Obama Administration…
Repeal of Obamacare Could Reduce Coverage for Addiction Treatment
People with addiction and mental health disorders and their treatment providers are worried that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could reduce insurance coverage for these disorders, USA Today reports. Almost 30 percent of people who received coverage through the ACA’s Medicaid expansion have a mental disorder or a substance…