Opioid Expenditures and Utilization in the Medicaid System

Data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Medicaid database were analyzed to define recent trends in the use and cost of opioid medications United States as a whole and in seven states between 1998 and 2003. Over this time period, total Medicaid prescriptions for opioids ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy 2006, Vol.20 (1), p.5-13
Main Authors: Brixner, Diana I., Oderda, Gary M., Roland, Carl L., Rublee, Dale A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analgesics, Opioid - economics
costs
Drug Costs - trends
Drug Utilization
Humans
Medicaid - economics
Medicaid - trends
Medicaid spending
opioid
Outpatients
Retrospective Studies
United States
utilization
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Summary:Data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Medicaid database were analyzed to define recent trends in the use and cost of opioid medications United States as a whole and in seven states between 1998 and 2003. Over this time period, total Medicaid prescriptions for opioids have nearly doubled and, in nominal terms, expenditures have nearly tripled. The morphine derivatives account for the largest share of these increases. By 2003, opioids represented about a four percent share of all Medicaid prescription drugs. Variations among the states in per-enrollee spending on opioids are substantial. The appropriateness of these variations is unknown.
ISSN:1536-0288
1536-0539
DOI:10.1080/J354v20n01_03