A recent STAT News article highlights troubling new findings: Black and Hispanic patients are significantly less likely to receive key medications for opioid addiction within six months of a substance use-related health event. Specifically, Black patients were 17.1% less likely, and Hispanic patients 16.2% less likely, to receive these treatments compared to white patients.

These disparities are not new, but this JAMA study, which analyzed more than 176,000 patient cases across Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and private insurance, offers some of the most detailed evidence to date of how deeply racial inequities are embedded in addiction treatment access.

This data resonates with themes discussed during our webinar last month, “Improving Prevention & Treatment for Opioid Use Among Racial & Ethnic Groups.” Speakers, including Dr. Edouard Coupet Jr. of Yale and Carola Gaines of the African American Opioid Coalition, emphasized how systemic barriers, such as under-prescribing of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and delays in accessing care, continue to undermine recovery efforts in communities of color.

Ensuring equitable access to evidence-based treatments, such as buprenorphine and naltrexone, must be a priority from this point on.

Read the full STAT article here to understand the full scope of these findings.