Predicting Receipt of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Among Medicaid Clients

This study uses statistical modeling to identify factors generally associated with receipt of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in calendar year 2019 across three SUD treatment modalities (outpatient,  inpatient, and medication for opioid use disorders). We found that we could adequately predict treatment receipt for two populations of Medicaid clients: those with a recent treatment history (received any treatment in 2017 or 2018), and those who had not. However, a limited number of factors were consistently associated with uptake of the three SUD treatment modalities, and the types of factors that predicted treatment differed between clients with and without a recent treatment history. This report discusses the findings in more depth, their implications, and how they can inform future efforts to connect Medicaid clients to SUD treatment services.