Innovations in the Delivery of Substance Abuse Treatment for People with Disabilities through Managed Care

This project was a collaboration between the HDWG at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Boston University School of Social Work funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Substance Abuse Policy Research Program. The overall goal of this project was to identify innovative practices in providing substance abuse treatment services to individuals with a wide range of disabilities through Medicaid managed care.

Methods included:

• A thorough literature review on both Medicaid managed care and substance abuse issues among people with disabilities;
• Identification of states that enrolled people with disabilities in Medicaid managed care programs and that also purchased substance abuse treatment services through these programs;
• A telephone survey of a range states that met these criteria;
• Site visits to a subset of managed care programs that appeared to have innovative models for serving people with disabilities; and
• Dissemination of findings.

Publications

Bachman, S., Drainoni, M., & Tobias, C. (2003). Substance abuse treatment for people with disabilities: Does managed care prompt innovation? Journal of Disability Policy Studies. 14(3): 154:162.

Bachman, S., Drainoni, M., & Tobias, C. (2003) State policy and practice regarding substance abuse treatment services for Medicaid recipients with disabilities. American Journal on Addictions. 12:1-11.

Bachman, S., Drainoni, M. & Tobias, C. (2004). Medicaid managed care, substance abuse treatment and people with disabilities: A review of the literature. Health and Social Work. 29(3):189-196.

Project Staff: Key staff involved in this project included Sara Bachman, Ph.D. at the Boston University School of Social Work, and Mari-Lynn Drainoni, Ph.D. and Carol Tobias, MMHS, at the HDWG.