WHY? –
Sept. 3, 2025 – Opioid use is a growing health problem for older adults in the U.S. Drug overdose deaths for people age 65 and older increased 11.4% between 2022 and 2023, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data — the largest increase of any age group that year. Fewer than 40% of Medicare beneficiaries with diagnosed opioid use disorder in 2020 received treatment that met the eight nationally recognized quality standards for the care. The findings show that Medicare needs to routinely monitor the quality of opioid use treatment it covers for seniors, researchers said. The study echoes federal findings from last year that found just 4% of traditional Medicare enrollees who survived drug overdoses got medication-assisted treatment for opioids like methadone or buprenorphine.
