Arizona Medicaid Expands Opioid Treatments

(July 5, 2019)

Arizona’s Medicaid organization will add more opioid treatment options, reports the Arizona Capitol Times. The organization, called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), will expand its opioid drug list. Now, a buprenorphine tablet and injectable will join the film option and methadone as opioid treatments.

The organization’s plan came because Arizona doctors had signed a petition asking for wider opioid treatments to help their patients. They later presented the petition to the state’s Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee . On May 24, the Committee recommended their treatment expansion to AHCCCS. Will Humble, director at the Arizona Public Health Association, believes the new expansion will help opioid treatments in the state: “Having additional options is going to be good for physicians and patients,” he said. The new plan will go into effect on October 1.

To learn more about buprenorphine, look here. To find an opioid rehab center or doctor in Arizona, look here or here.