The National Institute on Aging awarded The RAND Corporation $2.174 million on September 15, 2025, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to assess medication access for opioid use disorder among Medicare beneficiaries.
RAND will quantify and analyze beneficiary access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD)—methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—and associated health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with opioid use disorder. The research will calculate reproducible facility-level quality measures of MOUD delivery and health outcomes, and conduct qualitative interviews with facility staff to understand barriers to evidence-based treatment and assess quality measures. The work addresses disparities in MOUD access across patient groups: only 16 percent of Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with opioid use disorder received MOUD in 2020, and access varies significantly by rural versus urban location and by race and ethnicity.
The award obligates $2.174 million with a period of performance through May 31, 2029. Work is performed at RAND's location in Santa Monica, California. The project is a Project Grant under the National Institute on Aging's Aging Research program, which supports biomedical and behavioral research directed toward understanding the aging process and diseases and special problems affecting older populations.