Substance Use & Substance Use Disorders (SUD)

This project assessed changes in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment utilization and expenditures in the employer-sponsored private health insurance market at two timepoints, 2006-2007 and 2014-2015, that mark the periods before and after implementation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), the Affordable Care Act, the introduction and expanded use of new opioid treatme

Access to services, particularly behavioral health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services, is challenging in rural and other underserved areas.

This Issue Brief was informed by an ASPE-funded study conducted by RTI International that assessed the use of telehealth to identify and manage SUDs in rural areas. The final research brief included an environmental scan and site visits with participants that represented a wide range of telehealth experiences throughout the country.

This report summarizes financing and workforce policies that can be used by states to expand treatment access and capacity for opioid use disorder (OUD), focusing especially on medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

Federal policies implemented in the last decade, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, have promoted insurance coverage for substance use disorders (SUDs). By providing funding for treatment services, these federal policies were intended to increase the proportion of individuals with SUDs who seek and receive evidence-based treatments.

Many barriers to accessing evidence-based treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), particularly medication assisted treatment, are related to the workforce. Barriers include workforce shortages for certain providers, insufficient training, education and experience, lack of institutional and clinician peer support, provider stigma and inadequate or burdensome reimbursement.

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This research brief describes how select indicators associated with substance use prevalence relate to the changing trend in child welfare caseloads. It is part of a series describing findings of a mixed methods study undertaken to better understand how parental substance use relates to child welfare caseloads, which began rising in 2012 following years of sustained declines.

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 provided states with the option to operate guardianship assistance programs (GAP) as part of their child welfare permanency continuum under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act.  The first of these programs began operating in 2010, though some states had operated guardianship programs under title IV-E demonstration

Created by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 1915(i) of the Social Security Act gives state Medicaid programs the flexibility to cover home and community-based services (HCBS) through a Medicaid state plan amendment (SPA) without the need to seek a federal waiver.