Virginia Shows How Medicaid Can Help End the Opioid Crisis

The state started the program, the Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services (ARTS), in April 2017.

After the program went into effect, the percent of Medicaid members with an opioid use disorder who received treatment went up by 29 percent from April to December 2017 compared to the same period the previous year. At the same time, emergency department visits related to opioid use disorders went down by 31 percent. That was more than double the 15 percent reduction in emergency department use among all state Medicaid members during the same time frame.

The researchers also calculated what they would expect emergency department visits to look like with and without ARTS..