Association Between Medicaid Managed Care Coverage of Substance Use Services and Treatment Utilization

ABSTRACT: Key Points

Question

Did admissions for substance use treatment change after coverage of substance use services was carved into or carved out of comprehensive Medicaid managed care in 2 states?

Findings

In this cross-sectional study of 2010 to 2019 data from the Treatment Episode Data Set—Admissions, Maryland experienced a 104.4% relative increase in admissions following the carve-out and Nebraska experienced a 33.2% relative decrease following the carve-in compared with each state’s respective synthetic control.

Meaning

These results suggest that carving out coverage of substance use services from Medicaid managed care may be associated with increased treatment utilization, but changes in treatment utilization may be heterogeneous across states.

Importance

SUBMITTER: Auty S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9419018 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature