University of South Carolina Reports Findings in Central Nervous System Agents (Medicaid Managed Care Prior Authorization for Buprenorphine Tied To State Partisanship and Health Plan Profit Status, 2018): Drugs and Therapies – Central Nervous System Agents

2024 MAY 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Drugs and Therapies - Central Nervous System Agents have been published. According to news reporting originating in Columbia, South Carolina, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Buprenorphine is among the most effective drugs for treating opioid use disorder, yet only a quarter of Americans who need it receive it. Requiring prior authorization has been identified as an important barrier to buprenorphine access.”

Financial support for this research came from NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of South Carolina, “However, the practice remains widespread in Medicaid-the largest insurer of Americans with opioid use disorder. In this study, we examined how prior authorization for buprenorphine is related to plan structure and state political environment, using data on all 266 comprehensive Medicaid managed care plans active in 2018. We found substantial variation in prior authorization use across states, with all plans requiring prior authorization in eleven states and no plans requiring it in thirteen other states. We found that for-profit plans and those located in Republican states were more likely to impose prior authorization policies.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Our findings suggest that managed care plans’ decisions regarding use of prior authorization may be shaped by internal pressures to control costs, as well as by differing partisan stances regarding the need to prevent criminal diversion of buprenorphine.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Medicaid Managed Care Prior Authorization for Buprenorphine Tied To State Partisanship and Health Plan Profit Status, 2018. Health Affairs, 2024;43(1):55-63. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Christina M. Andrews, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, United States. Additional authors for this research include Melissa A. Westlake, Sadia Jehan, Amanda J. Abraham, Colleen M. Grogan and Samantha J. Harris.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00288. 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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