Losers and Winners in Oregon's State Methadone Maintenance Program

Assessing the impact of a change to the Oregon Health Plan's coverage of substance abuse treatment

Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University's Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine studied the impact on clients enrolled in methadone maintenance services in Oregon when the state eliminated funding for their treatment in March 2003.

Key Findings

  • The majority (68 percent) of those who lost state-paid methadone services chose to pay for treatment on their own.
  • Of those who began to pay for their own methadone treatment, 66 percent were able to continue paying for the full year.
  • Some 19 percent of those who attempted to self-pay eventually detoxed from methadone and an additional 15 percent abruptly stopped methadone, indicating that they may have returned to using heroin.
  • Patients who were forced off methadone tended to have more medical, employment, psychiatric, drug and legal problems than the group that paid for methadone services and the group that retained the benefit.

Key Conclusions

  • "These results indicate that cutting benefits across the board is more likely to have detrimental effects for those most in need," the researchers concluded.

Funding

Three phases of this research were funded respectively by:

  • Oregon Practice Improvement Collaborative ($10,000)
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) ($19,756)
  • National Institute of Drug Addiction as part of the B/START (Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition) Initiative ($50,000).

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