Access to treatment for opioid use disorder

This chapter examines issues related to access to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in the United States. There are multiple points on the continuum of care where individuals with OUD experience poor access to care. About two-thirds of all people with OUD do not receive treatment, and among those receiving treatment, care is often insufficiently short and does not include highly effective medications. While the number of people in treatment and using medications has increased substantially, access remains a major challenge amidst an unprecedented overdose crisis. Current challenges reflect the historic underfunding and marginalization of treatment and the criminalization of people with OUD. Recent policy changes to improve the financing of treatment, decrease burdensome regulations, and make treatment with medication more widely available across different touchpoints, such as jails and hospital emergency departments, provide the greatest opportunity to improve access to care and promote recovery.