During Post-COVID Medicaid Unwinding, Buprenorphine Use For OUD Treatment Declined More In States With Higher Disenrollment

In states where more people lost Medicaid coverage during the post-COVID-19 unwinding period and the end of the pandemic's continuous coverage requirement, access to buprenorphine for medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) saw sharper declines than in other states, based on an analysis of longitudinal data of prescriptions dispensed by retail pharmacies. Compared to buprenorphine MAT prescription data from states with the lowest Medicaid disenrollment rates, the number of days with active buprenorphine prescriptions decreased by 3.9 days more in states with the highest disenrollments. The likelihood of having no days of buprenorphine . . .