Abstract
The Affordable Care Act is aimed at extending health insurance to more than thirty million Americans, including many with untreated substance use disorders. Will those who need addiction treatment receive it once they have insurance? To answer that question, we examined the experience of Massachusetts, which implemented its own universal insurance law in 2007. As did the Affordable Care Act, the Massachusetts reform incorporated substance abuse services into the essential benefits to be provided all residents. Prior to the law's enactment, the state estimated that a half-million residents needed substance abuse treatment. Our mixed-methods exploratory study thus asked whether expanded coverage in Massachusetts led to increased addiction treatment, as indicated by admissions, services, or revenues. In fact, we observed relatively stable use of treatment services two years before and two years after the state enacted its universal health care law. Among other factors, our study noted that the percentage of uninsured patients with substance abuse issues remains relatively high--and that when patients did become insured, requirements for copayments on their care deterred treatment. Our analysis suggests that expanded coverage alone...Continue Reading
Citations
May 16, 2014·American Journal of Public Health·Heena P SantryCatarina I Kiefe
Jan 11, 2014·The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research·Christina M Andrews
Nov 10, 2015·Health Services Research·Hefei WenJanet R Cummings
Oct 31, 2015·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·Dail FieldsPaul M Roman
Sep 27, 2014·Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy·David Loveland, Hilary Driscoll
Jul 22, 2014·Health Services Research·Tomasz P StryjewskiJ Frank Wharam
Mar 11, 2015·Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment·Mir M AliRyan Mutter
Jan 21, 2014·Drug and Alcohol Dependence·M D SteinN Paull
May 12, 2016·Substance Abuse : Official Publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse·Adam J Gordon
Jul 9, 2016·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·D CodyI Naydenova
Nov 5, 2016·The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research·Mir M AliRyan Mutter
Mar 30, 2017·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·Amity E QuinnNancy E Lane
Apr 14, 2017·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·Lydia AletrarisPaul M Roman
May 20, 2017·Harm Reduction Journal·Thomas J StopkaAshley Donahue
May 20, 2017·Health Services Research·Karen E LasserNancy R Kressin
Mar 5, 2014·Health Affairs·Marsha Regenstein, Sara Rosenbaum
Aug 5, 2015·Health Affairs·Emma E McGintyColleen L Barry
Dec 7, 2016·Health Affairs·Colleen M GroganPeter D Friedmann
May 8, 2013·Health Affairs·Katharine R LevitKevin Malone
May 6, 2015·Health Affairs·Christina AndrewsPeter Friedmann
Aug 6, 2014·Health Affairs·Brendan Saloner, Benjamin Lê Cook
Oct 26, 2018·American Journal of Public Health·Joshua A BarocasBenjamin P Linas
Jan 25, 2019·The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse·Arthur Robin WilliamsMark Olfson
Jul 25, 2014·The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery·Jarone LeeAli S Raja
Feb 23, 2017·Health Economics·Johanna Catherine Maclean, Brendan Saloner
Feb 1, 2018·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Andrew QuanbeckDhavan V Shah
Dec 19, 2018·BMC Health Services Research·Janice BlanchardKevin C Heslin
Apr 2, 2020·Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey·Lulu ZhaoLauren Bouchard
May 8, 2021·Psychiatric Services : a Journal of the American Psychiatric Association·Mark OlfsonRamin Mojtabai