Dive Brief:
- Numerous Massachusetts health plans have been taking action to fight the state's severe opioid epidemic and the healthcare costs that go with it. Those costs are in the billions nationally, The Boston Globe reports.
- The measures include painkiller restrictions, easier access to addiction treatment, and the use of case managers or coaches to assist patients through treatment.
- Insurers' involvement has been met with some resistance from the medical community over concerns drug restrictions pose burdens for physicians and patients who are truly in need.
Dive Insight:
With financial investment at stake, as well as program acceptance, it will be important for the measures to prove themselves.
“If we’re able to learn that attaching someone to a recovery coach early reduces recidivism, it would easily be worth the investment,” Dr. Paul Mendis, chief medical officer of Neighborhood Health Plan, told The Boston Globe. Neighborhood is the insurance branch of Partners HealthCare, where nearly 9% of enrollees have been diagnosed with substance abuse in the past year. It covers people through both Medicaid and commercial health plans.
Such recovery guidance is a popular course of action in Massachusetts. Among other insurers with varying level of involvement are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan, and CeltiCare Health Plan, which has developed the most expansive plan in the state due to the extreme costs it faces; almost a quarter of the hospital admissions it covers are tied to substance abuse.