Investigators from Harvard Medical School Zero in on Managed Care (Effects of Medicaid Coverage On Receipt of Tobacco Dependence Treatment Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With Substance Use Disorder): Managed Care

2022 JUL 15 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news originating from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) smoke cigarettes at a rate that is more than double the rate of the general population. Tobacco dependence treatment (TDT) is effective at reducing smoking, yet it is unclear whether expanding insurance coverage of these services increases TDT use among Medicaid beneficiaries with SUD.”

Funders for this research include NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Harvard Medical School, “Data Source 2009-2013 Medicaid data in all 50 states and Washington DC. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the 2009-2013 de-identified Medicaid Analytic Extract (MAX) claims for a 100% national sample of fee-for-service (FFS) Medicaid adult beneficiaries. Using a difference-in-difference-in-differences analysis, we assessed the association of full TDT coverage on TDT medication use and tobacco cessation counseling services between beneficiaries with and without SUD. We adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, diagnosis of co-occurring chronic illness, state tobacco taxes, and state and year fixed effects. Data Collection/Extraction Methods We excluded patients not continuously enrolled in Medicaid for 12 months during the calendar year, adults aged 65 and older (given their dual enrollment in Medicaid and Medicare), minors aged 12-17, and pregnant women (for whom different TDT coverage policies apply). We separately modeled the association between full coverage of (1) counseling, (2) over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy, and (3) prescription cessation medications on TDT medication treatment and counseling services. We found that each coverage led to increases in any TDT medication treatment and counseling services for beneficiaries with SUD. The effects of each coverage on medication treatment were greater for beneficiaries with SUD compared to beneficiaries without SUD (ranging from 4.9 to 6.1 percentage point difference).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Coverage of tobacco cessation counseling, over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy, and prescription cessation medications holds promise for reducing the wide disparities in rates of smoking between those with and without SUD.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Effects of Medicaid Coverage On Receipt of Tobacco Dependence Treatment Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With Substance Use Disorder. Health Services Research, 2022. Health Services Research can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Health Services Research - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-6773)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Sadiq Y. Patel, Harvard Medical School, Dept. of Health Care Policy, 180 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Additional authors for this research include Geoffrey F. Wayne, Ana M. Progovac, Michael Flores, Margo Moyer, Brian Mullin, Benjamin Le Cook, Douglas Levy and Brendan Saloner.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14007. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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