Skip to content

Home / Best Practices

Medicaid Expansion

Explore County Profiles

Wyoming Overview

Description of Strategy

Medicaid expansion refers to expanding program eligibility for low-income adults that live below state poverty levels. Medicaid plays an important role in supporting those with opioid use disorders, covering nearly one in eleven non-elderly adults within Wyoming (kff.org, 2019). Moreover, Medicaid members are more likely to be prescribed opioids for pain, and have a higher risk of overdose (SAMHSA, 2014). Given that opioid use disorders among Medicaid participants is higher than national average, MAT is critical to addressing opioid addiction among Medicaid members (kff.org, 2019).

In Wyoming

While regularly introduced as legislation, Medicaid has yet to be expanded in Wyoming.

Discussion of Effectiveness

MAT is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, regardless of the user. Currently, the Medicaid programs in all states and the District of Columbia cover some form of MAT-related treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration. States that expanded Medicaid eligibility for opioid use disorder were associated with a 70% increase in Medicaid-covered buprenorphine prescriptions, and Medicaid coverage is critical for pregnant women seeking treatment for OUD (Wen et al., 2017, Bachhuber et al., 2017).

References

Bachhuber, M. A., Mehta, P. K., Faherty, L. J., & Saloner, B. (2017). Medicaid coverage of methadone maintenance and the use of opioid agonist therapy among pregnant women in specialty treatment. Medical Care, 55(12), 985–990.

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2019). Medicaid in Wyoming.

Donohue, J., Cunningham, P., Walker, L., & Garfield, R.(2019). Opioid use disorder among Medicaid enrollees: Snapshot of the epidemic and state responses [Issue Brief]. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Saloner, B., Stoller, K., & Barry, C. (2016). Medicaid coverage for methadone maintenance and use of opioid agonist therapy in specialty addiction treatment. Psychiatric Services, 67(6), 676–9.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). Projections of national expenditures for treatment of mental and substance use disorders, 2010–2020.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2018). Medicaid coverage of medication-assisted treatment for alcohol and opioid use disorders and of medication for the reversal of opioid overdose

Wen, H., Hockenberry, J. M., Borders, T. F., & Druss, B. G. (2017). Impact of Medicaid expansion on Medicaid-covered utilization of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment. Medical Care, 55(4), 336-341.

Further Reading

Wyoming Department of Health Information on MAT 

Wyoming Medicaid

Evidence Base

Numerous published studiesHarvey Ball icon indicating evidence strength
Effectiveness Learn More

Effective

Strength of Evidence Learn More

Numerous Published Studies