Study Reveals Increased Insurance Instability Among OUD Patients

August 18, , 2024

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Health Association Health Forum
examined how opioid use disorder (OUD) correlates with insurance instability, finding that OUD
patients experience higher rates of insurance transitions, which can hinder access to care and
worsen treatment outcomes.

The study analyzed data from the Massachusetts Public Data Warehouse between 2014 and
2015, identifying 20,768 OUD cases among individuals aged 18–63. Patients were identified by
insurance type—Medicaid or commercial—and monitored for insurance transitions. Results
showed that 29.4% of commercially insured and 30.7% of Medicaid patients experienced an
insurance change within a year of their first OUD diagnosis, compared to the state’s average of
26%, . Notably, transitions from commercial insurance to uninsured (24.4%) and from Medicaid
to uninsured (16.7%) were most common. The study also found that younger patients and those
from historically disadvantaged racial minorities faced higher rates of insurance transitions.

Frequent insurance transitions among OUD patients can limit access to care, increasing
patients’ risk of experiencing a fatal drug poisoning. Job loss and the subsequent loss of
healthcare coverage may worsen substance misuse, reinforcing a cycle of economic instability
and addiction. With diagnosed cases of opioid addiction projected to rise from 1.05 million in
2024 to 1.07 million in 2028, these findings underscore the need to address socioeconomic
disparities and insurance instability.

Read the study here.