Use of residential opioid use disorder treatment among Medicaid enrollees in nine states

INTRODUCTION: Residential treatment is a key component of the opioid use disorder care continuum, but research has not measured well the differences in its use across states at the enrollee level.

METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study used Medicaid claims data from nine states to document the prevalence of residential treatment for opioid use disorder and to describe the characteristics of patients receiving care. For each patient characteristic, chi-square and t-tests tested for differences in the distribution between individuals who did and did not receive residential care.

RESULTS: Among 491,071 Medicaid enrollees with opioid use disorder, 7.5 % were treated in residential facilities in 2019, though this number ranged widely (0.3-14.6 %) across states. Residential patients were more likely to be younger, non-Hispanic White, male, and living in an urban area. Although residential patients were less likely than those without residential care to be eligible for Medicaid through disability, diagnoses for comorbid conditions were more frequently observed among residential patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Results from this large, multi-state study add context to the ongoing national conversation around opioid use disorder treatment and policy, providing a baseline for future work.