Do Policies to Increase Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Work?

Eric Barrette, Leemore Dafny and Karen Shen

No 29001, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Even among commercially-insured individuals, opioid use disorder (OUD) is undertreated in the U.S.: nearly half receive no treatment within 6 months of a new diagnosis. Using a difference-in-differences specification exploiting the extension of insurance parity requirements for substance disorder treatment to small group enrollees in 2014, we find that parity increases utilization of residential treatment but decreases utilization of agonist medications, the standard of care. We find direct interventions to increase access to medication may be more promising: increases in the county-level share of physicians able to prescribe agonists are associated with substitution toward medication-assisted treatment.

JEL-codes: H51 I1 I12 I13 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
Note: EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as Eric Barrette & Leemore Dafny & Karen Shen, 2023. "Do Policies to Increase Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Work?," American Journal of Health Economics, vol 9(3), pages 297-330.

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