Medication and Acute Care Use in Young Adults With Opioid Use Subject to Medicaid Prescription Caps

Is becoming newly exposed to Medicaid prescription cap policies associated with medication and acute care use among young adults with opioid use disorder (OUD)?This cohort study in 15 526 individuals from 26 non–prescription cap states and 1769 from 8 states with prescription cap policies found reductions in the prevalence of any prescription receipt and the monthly total number of prescriptions filled after turning age 21 years in states with prescription caps; buprenorphine use for OUD did not change. Increases in the monthly number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations were observed, although only after adjustment for baseline trends.Results of this study suggest that state Medicaid prescription caps were associated with lower overall use of prescription medications and more frequent acute care use.

Corresponding Author: Christopher M. Santostefano, MPH, RN, Department of Health Services, Policy christopher_santostefano@brown.edu).

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