09/17/2024 | Press release | Archived content
As the United States continues to struggle with the opioid crisis, access to medications for opioid use disorder (known as MOUD) is essential to address the high rates of opioid addiction and overdose mortality. Medicare and Medicaid play important roles in providing access to MOUD. Nonetheless, recent OIG work found that many enrollees with opioid use disorder did not receive MOUD through these programs. CMS has taken several steps in recent years to increase MOUD access, but if providers are unable or unwilling to treat Medicare and Medicaid enrollees, these actions will have limited success in expanding access to treatment.
OIG recommends that CMS:
CMS stated that it supports the spirit of our recommendations and did not state whether it concurred with our recommendations. CMS described HHS-wide efforts to increase access to MOUD providers, both generally and for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees.
This report may be subject to section 5274 of the National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2023, 117 Pub. L. 263.