More Americans are receiving addiction treatment, but racial gaps persist

BACK OF THE METHADONE LINE? –

July 13, 2021 – The results, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provide insights that policymakers and medical providers can act on to improve access to quality care for opioid use disorder, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The analysis was possible because of the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network, a unique network that partners academic institutions — including Virginia Commonwealth University — with state Medicaid programs to overcome barriers to data-sharing between states.

In its analysis published in JAMA — compiled by using standardized data from 11 states, including Virginia — the MODRN team found that Black enrollees were considerably less likely than white enrollees to be treated with medications for their opioid use disorder and were less likely to have continuity of such treatment. In contrast, pregnant women with opioid use disorder were far more likely than the average person with opioid use disorder to receive continuous medication-assisted treatment. This is likely because the women were actively engaged in care due to their pregnancy and motivated to continue treatment.