Value-Based Care News

CMS Announces Grants to Tackle Opioid Use Disorders

The grants award $50 million to over ten plans on substance use disorder treatments and recovery, particularly regarding opioid use disorders.

CMS announces grants for opioid use disorders

Source: CMS

By Kelsey Waddill

CMS continues to wage war on the opioid epidemic with a new grant opportunity for plans to reduce opioid use disorders (OUD).

“CMS is pulling every lever to combat the opioid epidemic, and increasing access to treatments for Americans suffering from substance use disorder is essential to addressing this issue. State-level innovation has been and will continue to be key in addressing the opioid crisis and this funding opportunity provides states with a significant opportunity to expand access to critical treatments for their citizens,”  Kimberly Brandt, CMS Principal Deputy Administrator for Policy and Operations, said in the press release.

Only 20 percent of the 2 million Americans with an opioid use disorder are receiving treatment, according to CMS. The lack of effective treatment among individuals with opioid use disorder is contributing to mortality rates. In 2017, over 47,000 people died of an opioid overdose, the federal agency reported.

Successful planning grants aim to end the epidemic and address other substance use disorders (SUD) by:

  • Enhancing the ability of Medicaid providers to offer services or treatments through assessment
  • Preparing providers to offer SUD treatment and give technical support
  • Incentivizing Medicaid providers to offer SUD treatment and enhance their capacity to do so

The selected plans will initiate CMS’s 54-month demonstration project to enhance providers’ capacity to offer substance use treatments. Upon completing an 18-month planning grant, the remaining 36 months will be used to enact the plans in five states.

The grants are a part of the CMS Roadmap to Address the Opioid Epidemic, which seeks to prevent, treat, and gather information in order to end the epidemic.

According to information CMS released in March, in 2017 the center sent 24,000 letters to physicians who were overprescribing opioids to Medicare patients. The letters reminded them of safer practices. That same year, CMS saw a 40 percent drop in opioid overprescribing.

CMS also empowered 120,000 physicians in 4,000 inpatient and 5,000 outpatient settings to reduce opioid overdoses. On the state level, the center approved 21 states’ Medicaid 1115 demonstrations for OUD treatment.

Other ways that CMS has been working with and enabling states and providers include:

  • Approving and working with Virginia on its 1115 Medicaid waiver which uses reimbursements to increase access to treatment, resulting in 49 percent more members accessing treatment and 39 percent less opioid-related emergency department visits in five months
  • Giving approval and technical support to Vermont’s Hub and Spoke MAT program to coordinate care for chronically ill patients to reduce OUDs and adverse drug events related to opioids
  • Facilitating the Transforming Clinician Practice Initiative (TCPI), in which over 90 percent of clinicians in small, rural, or underserved regions participate by sharing information and improving opioid practices
  • Offering data analytics and expert support to a network of ten Colorado providers, which ultimately saw a 36 percent reduction in opioid usage and administered 31 percent more non-opioid pain medications over the course of six months
  • Introducing two opioid models--Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) and Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM)--aimed at assisting children whose family members suffer from OUD and pregnant women with OUD, which states and care delivery partners will implement in 2020

CMS and HHS also offer multiple grant opportunities on the government grants website. For the recently announced grants, CMS will accept 18-month proposals until August 19.