HHS releases report on postpartum opioid prescribing

The Office of Behavioral Health, Disability, and Aging Policy (BHDAP), within the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), released a new report titled Postpartum Opioid Prescription Fills, Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), and Utilization of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) among Women with Medicaid and Private Health Insurance Coverage. As described in the report, the study aims to analyze Medicaid and private health insurance claims data to estimate postpartum opioid prescribing rates among women who gave birth; rates of OUD development among those with postpartum opioid prescriptions; and utilization of MAT among those who develop opioid use disorder (OUD) after childbirth. The report includes figures and tables that summarize key findings and statistics relating postpartum opioid prescribing to the development of OUD and utilization of MAT. For example, among the Medicaid and privately insured patients who gave birth, over 50% had an opioid prescription filled within a week of giving birth. In addition, Medicaid patients were more likely to fill an opioid prescription postpartum, compared to patients on private insurance.