Anthem's affiliated health plans doubled the number of members who are receiving treatment for opioid use disorder that includes both drug therapies and counseling.
Anthem's plans pledged four years ago to significantly increase the number of members who have access to such therapies amid the opioid epidemic. Across 26 employer, individual market and Medicaid plans, the number of people receiving both therapies increased from 18% to 36%, Anthem said.
In Medicaid specifically, that number increased from 24% to 55%, Anthem said.
Experts at the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration advocate for a combined approach to treating opioid addiction, which includes both drug treatments and counseling.
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“Opioid use disorder is a complex societal issue that will take focus and persistence to resolve,” said Charles Gross, Ph.D., vice president of Anthem behavioral health, in a statement.
“By breaking down silos and fostering greater collaboration with our care providers and other national patient and industry organizations, we are confident that together we can find solutions to help ensure our consumers have access to the best evidenced-based care for substance use disorder," he said.
Anthem boosted access to the holistic opioid abuse treatment in a number of ways, including launching a bundled payment model that covers both drug therapies and counseling, offering medication assisted treatment administered via telehealth and harnessing predictive analytics to track high-risk members.