Publications
Publications
- Summer 2023
- American Journal of Health Economics
Do Policies to Increase Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Work?
By: Eric Barrette, Leemore S. Dafny and Karen Shen
Abstract
Even among commercially insured individuals, opioid use disorder is undertreated in the United States: nearly half receive no treatment within six months of a new diagnosis. Using a difference-in-differences specification exploiting the extension of insurance parity requirements for substance use 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 treatment that includes medication.
Keywords
Opioid Treatment; Medication-assisted Treatment; Substance Use Disorder; Private Insurance; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment
Citation
Barrette, Eric, Leemore S. Dafny, and Karen Shen. "Do Policies to Increase Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Work?" American Journal of Health Economics 9, no. 3 (Summer 2023): 297–330.