Investigators at Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Zero in on Managed Care (Dental Care Utilization Among Medicaid-Enrolled Adults With Substance Use Disorder): Managed Care

2025 SEP 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting originating in Rockville, Maryland, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Low-income Medicaid-enrolled adults are likely to have poor oral health and experience substance use disorders. Despite emerging evidence that comprehensive dental care can improve substance use disorder outcomes, there is a lack of evidence about the overlap of substance use disorder and dental care utilization.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “This study aims to fill that gap. This cross-sectional study used 2019 data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic Files and included over 30 million nondually eligible Medicaid-enrolled adults aged 21-64 years. Clustered-robust SE logistic regression models were used to predict the odds of receiving early-stage dental care. Analyses were performed in 2024. Nationally, 56.45 per 1,000 Medicaid-enrolled adults were diagnosed with substance use disorders. There was significant variation in substance use disorder prevalence across states, ranging from 27.11 to 103.45 per 1,000 adults. On average, 173.78 adults per 1,000 accessed dental care, although access varied significantly across states, ranging from 1.69 to 347.27 per 1,000. Adults living in states with extensive Medicaid dental coverage had the highest rates of dental care utilization: 270.38 per 1,000 adults with substance use disorders and 215.39 per 1,000 adults without substance use disorders. The odds of receiving early-stage dental care were 42% lower for Medicaid-enrolled adults with substance use disorders than for those without substance use disorders. This study found considerable variation in the prevalence of substance use disorders and dental care utilization across states.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Further research is needed to uncover the factors driving these variations and inform policy and clinical interventions to improve dental care access for Medicaid-enrolled adults, especially those with substance use disorders.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Dental Care Utilization Among Medicaid-Enrolled Adults With Substance Use Disorder. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2025;69(3):107937. American Journal of Preventive Medicine can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; American Journal of Preventive Medicine - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/american-journal-of-preventive-medicine/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Christopher M. Jones, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland. Additional authors for this research include Carla Shoff, Luping Qu, Jennifer Y. Webster-Cyriaque, Shari M. Ling, Wilson M. Compton and Natalia I. Chalmers.

The publisher of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)