Nearly 25% Of Medicaid Beneficiaries Prescribed Opioids Or Buprenorphine In 2015

In 2015, nearly 25% of the 3.1 million Medicaid managed care members in 14 states whose pharmacy benefits were managed by Express Scripts received a prescription for an opioid for pain management or for buprenorphine for addiction treatment. More than 1.8 million prescriptions for opioids were written for that population during 2015; about 12% of these prescriptions were for medication-assisted addiction treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine, and the rest were for pain relievers.

The five most commonly dispensed opioid pain medications were: hydrocodone-acetaminophen (34%), oxycodone-acetaminophen (15%), tramadol HCL (12%), oxycodone HCL (11%), and Suboxone (8%). Suboxone . . .