Medicaid expansion in North Carolina helps slow declines in buprenorphine access, study suggests

A new study led by Jeff McCullough, Ph.D., associate professor of public health, and Kao-Ping Chua, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics, examined how North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion affected access to buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, for Medicaid-insured adults. 

Buprenorphine dispensing declined between June and November 2023 in both North Carolina and South Carolina, which did not expand Medicaid. After expansion began in December, North Carolina saw a slower decline—suggesting the policy may have helped ease some of the access reductions linked to Medicaid unwinding. 

This work was supported by IHPI’s Policy Sprint initiative.

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