CMS tool shows Medicare, Medicaid opioid prescribing rates by area

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released an updated tool for viewing and comparing opioid prescribing rates over time and across regions. When launched in 2015, the Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool provided a snapshot of Medicare Part D prescribing rates from 2013. The latest update adds data on opioid prescribing in Medicaid and an expanded view of prescribing rates over time and across regions. Opioid prescribing rates at the state level ranged from 2.9 percent to 9.4 percent in the Medicaid program and from 2.9 percent to 7.4 percent in Medicare Part D in 2016, CMS said. “Fighting this epidemic and its impact in every state, county and municipality is a priority of the Trump Administration, and this mapping tool gives our state and local partners the data they need to build on their own targeted solutions,” said Kimberly Brandt, CMS principal deputy administrator for operations.