Health Plan Disenrollment and Mortality After Initiation of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

Health plan disenrollment may interrupt treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and overall care, increasing risk for serious outcomes, including overdose and death. There is limited evidence on the association of disenrollment with all-cause and overdose mortality after initiating medications for OUD (MOUD) treatment.

To assess the association of health plan disenrollment with all-cause and overdose mortality in patients treated with MOUD.

This cohort study included privately and publicly insured patients aged 16 years or older who initiated buprenorphine or naltrexone for OUD treatment between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2021, at 3 integrated health insurance and care delivery systems in 2 US states. Patients were followed up to 2 years until December 31, 2022. Data were analyzed July 2024 to November 2025.

Health plan disenrollment following MOUD initiation.

All-cause mortality and drug-related and alcohol-related overdose mortality within 2 years of MOUD initiation ascertained from the National Death Index. Survival analyses were adjusted for patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Among 20 011 patients (mean [SD] age 38.7 [15.1] years; 12 299 males [61.5%]) who were treated for OUD, 6948 (34.7%) experienced disenrollment and 586 (2.9%) died during follow-up. The crude rate was 15.3 (95% CI, 14.1-16.6) per 1000 person-years for all-cause mortality and 6.2 (95% CI, 5.4-7.0) per 1000 person-years for overdose mortality. Ever experiencing disenrollment showed elevated all-cause mortality (17.6 [95% CI, 14.9-20.8] vs 14.7 [95% CI, 13.4-16.1] per 1000 person-years) and overdose mortality (8.9 [95% CI, 7.1-11.3] vs 5.4 [95% CI, 4.7-6.3] per 1000 person-years) relative to remaining enrolled. In adjusted analyses, ever experiencing disenrollment was associated with increased hazards of all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 1.51; 95% CI, 1.23-1.84) and overdose mortality (HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.17-2.09). Compared with remaining enrolled and receiving MOUD treatment, being disenrolled (HR, 4.34; 95% CI, 3.19-5.89) and being enrolled and not receiving MOUD treatment (HR, 4.19; 95% CI, 3.24-5.43) were associated with overall mortality.

In this cohort study of patients who initiated MOUD, experiencing health plan disenrollment was associated with increased mortality risk compared with remaining enrolled. Strategies are needed to improve continuity of health coverage and mitigate the elevated mortality risk during insurance transitions for patients receiving medications for OUD.