Clinic Payment Options as a Barrier to Accessing Medication-assisted Treatment for Opioid Use in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Objectives: For patients with opioid addiction seeking treatment, an effective option is Medication-assisted Treatment (MAT). In Albuquerque, the city with the greatest number of people who use opioids in New Mexico, the demand for MAT exceeds the number of patients receiving treatment. The authors hypothesized that a primary factor in patients' ability to access treatment is clinic payment options, rather than the traditionally cited availability of providers. Methods: The authors conducted a survey assessing payment methods and corresponding availability in MAT programs for 53 of Albuquerque's 70 providers. Results: The authors found a statistically significant (P<0.01) imbalance in treatment availability between insurance-accepting clinics (10.1% had >= 1 openings) and cash clinics (100% had >= 1 openings). Conclusions: These findings suggest that a lack of clinics accepting Medicaid and third party insurance may pose a significant treatment barrier. The authors thus conclude that more focus should be placed on increasing the number of clinicians and clinics accepting insurance.