Study: Medicare Beneficiaries May Face ‘Treatment Gap’ For Painkiller Abuse, Misuse

(By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez for Kaiser Health News)

When most people think of the victims of the nation’s opioid abuse epidemic, they seldom picture members of the Medicare set.

But a research letter published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry found Medicare beneficiaries had the highest and most rapidly growing rate of “opioid use disorder.” Six of every 1,000 recipients struggle with the condition, compared with one out of every 1,000 patients covered through commercial insurance plans. Read article here……

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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