Massachusetts
State Facts
Deaths, or 83.9% of total overdose deaths involved opioids in 2024.¹
Claims, or 3% of all Medicare Part D claims were for opioids in 2022 – an average of 27 per prescriber.²
Opioid Prescriptions were written for every 100 persons in Massachusetts in 2023.³
Beneficiaries on Medicare Part D had Opioid Use Disorder in 2022.⁴
Opioid Settlement Funds
National approved use: providing support for non-opioid pain treatment alternatives, including training providers to offer or refer to multi-modal, evidence-informed treatment of pain.
Member & Endorser Footprint
Co-Sponsors (119th)
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4)
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA-6)
2024 Passed Relevant Legislation
H.5143
This law mandates commercial insurers to cover non-opioid pain treatments without favoring opioids, limits utilization management for therapies like acupuncture, and requires insurer-submitted pain management plans, pharmacy education materials, and provider training on non-opioid alternatives.
Effective date
07/01/20252025 Introduced Relevant Legislation
HD 3239/SD 1822
Mandates that commercial health plans cover non-opioid medications without favoring opioids, applying to approximately 22% of the state’s population covered by regulated plans. The law also prohibits utilization management for certain non-opioid therapies, such as acupuncture, and requires the Department of Public Health to develop educational materials for pharmacies and implement provider training on non-opioid alternatives for pain treatment. Health plans must submit pain management strategies to the Division of Insurance by April 1, 2025, with coverage taking effect on July 1, 2025.
Introduced
01/17/2025Plan Impact
Medicaid1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024). Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool. https://cms-oeda.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=5390718d875d4c049b1ac5976a9ff083
3. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2024). Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/opioid-dispensing-rate-maps.html
4. Office of the Inspector General (2023). The Consistently Low Percentage of Medicare Enrollees Receiving Medication to Treat Their Opioid Use Disorder Remains a Concern. https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/2722/OEI-02-23-00250-Complete%20Report.pdf