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A year ago, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with the expansion of Medicaid and the inclusion of private insurance subsidies, took effect. In the states that expanded Medicaid, this has been a boon to opioid treatment program (OTP) patients, in some cases, but not all. And in the states that didn’t, it hasn’t. And even in the states that enthusiastically endorsed the ACA, private … [Read more...] about Health Care Reform One Year Later: Medicaid Much Better Than Commercial Insurance for Opioid Treatment Programs

We’re well into one of the worst opioid addiction epidemics in recent memory, and one would expect that opioid treatment programs (OTPs) would be rapidly expanding to meet the demand. But instead, it’s physicians’ office practices using buprenorphine to treat patients that seem poised for growth, although precise numbers are lacking. Why aren’t more OTPs opening to meet the … [Read more...] about Overcoming Obstacles to Opioid Treatment Expansion: The North Dakota Example

If it weren’t for proprietary financing interests, there would be little growth in opioid treatment programs (OTPs), according to Mark Parrino, MPA, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD). The reason for this is partly funding, but there are still barriers based on stigma. Despite those barriers, for-profit providers can adapt … [Read more...] about For-Profit Opioid Treatment Programs Leading the Growth Curve

Finally, there’s good news for the many patients in opioid treatment programs (OTPs) who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). New medications with success rates ranging from 90 percent to close to 100 percent are replacing older treatments—interferon injections and ribavirin—that required lengthy therapy, had an average cure rate of only 40 percent, and often were so … [Read more...] about A Tough Challenge for Opioid Treatment Programs: Linking Hepatitis C Patients With Affordable Testing and Treatment Services