April 28,2025

Of the 1.2 million Medicare enrollees with a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) in 2023, less than one-fifth (18.7%) were treated with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). The 2023 percentage receiving MOUD is similar to 2022, when 18.4% of Medicare enrollees with OUD received MOUD treatment.

Regionally, the share of beneficiaries with OUD who received MOUD ranged from 7% in Florida to 60% in Vermont:

• Medicare enrollees in Florida (7%), Texas (8%), and Nevada (9%) continued to be the least likely to receive medication for their OUD
• Enrollees in New England were most likely to receive medication for OUD, with the highest rates in Vermont (60%), Rhode Island and Massachusetts (both at 50%), and New Hampshire (43%).

Of the 18.7% of enrollees receiving MOUD, about two-thirds were taking buprenorphine, and one-third were taking methadone. Less than 1% were taking naltrexone.

• About 13% of the 1.2 million Medicare enrollees with OUD were treated with buprenorphine, and most received buprenorphine in office-based settings.
• The number of buprenorphine prescribers increased. In 2023, a total of 58,357 providers ordered buprenorphine for enrollees through Medicare Part D, representing a 32% increase from 2022. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of providers ordering buprenorphine through Part D increased by 12% each year.
• About 6% received methadone, which is only provided by opioid treatment programs.

Access to naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses increased by 25%, with about 750,000 beneficiaries receiving naloxone through Part D:

• The most commonly dispensed versions of naloxone were the brand-name drug Narcan and its generic equivalents (four-milligram naloxone nasal sprays).
• A total of 97% of the naloxone dispensed through Part D in 2023 was Narcan or a generic equivalent.

These findings were presented in Fewer Than One In Five Medicare Enrollees Received Medication To Treat Their Opioid Use Disorder by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). This report provides data to help CMS and other decision-makers target efforts to further combat the overdose crisis.

A link to the full text of Fewer Than One In Five Medicare Enrollees Received Medication To Treat Their Opioid Use Disorder is in the OPEN MINDS Circle Library at https://openminds.com/market-intelligence/resources/041425medicareopioidmeds/.