Amid evidence that alcohol and drug abuse costs exceed cancer and obesity, managed care provider Magellan Health Services in Avon rolled out nationally this week a program that uses medication to treat heavy drinkers and other drug abusers.
Magellan said medication-assisted treatment (MAT) intervention to battle substance use disorders has shown success in recent years in several trials in Texas and Georgia.
MAT relies on increasing the use of proven medications such as acamprosate, naltrexone, disulfiram, and buprenorphine to treat recovering abusers of alcohol and other drugs as part of an outpatient treatment program, Magellan said.
Magellan said it is working its health plan partners in business and government to incorporate these medications into client formularies. Magellan also is conducting trainings to illustrate the importance of using appropriate medications when developing members’ substance use disorder treatment plans.
 “For some patients, traditional psychosocial treatments alone are not enough to maintain sobriety,” said Gary M. Henschen, M.D., chief medical officer, Magellan Behavioral Health. “We are confident that the use of these medications as a core component of treatment planning will help reduce relapse among our members with substance use disorders.”
There are 75 million people who identify themselves as heavy or binge drinkers, according to one study. Another found 114,000 new heroin users and 1.1 million Americans who had tried hallucinogens for the first time in the past 12 months.
A 2005 study, Magellan said, put the cost of alcohol and drug abuse to the U.S. economy at $220 billion annually – more than cancer and obesity.
