Medicare beneficiaries struggling with opioid addiction not getting needed treatments – By Madison Foglio (Just The News) / December 27, 2021
Opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States are at an all-time high, reaching an estimated 70,000 deaths in 2020.
Most Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with opioid use disorder are not getting the medication and therapies they need, according to a new watchdog report that raises fresh red flags about America’s addiction and overdose epidemic.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Inspector General reported that less than 16 percent of the approximately 1 million Medicare beneficiaries who were diagnosed with opioid use disorder in 2020 received the necessary medication through Medicare.
And of those who got medicine, less than half also received behavioral therapy also deemed important to avoiding abuse or overdose, the inspector general said.
Medicare’s track record is “raising concerns that beneficiaries face challenges accessing treatment,” the internal watchdog cautioned. You can read the findings here.
