Figure 3. Estimated Change in Buprenorphine Prescriptions per 1000 Medicaid Enrollees Associated With Removal of Prior Authorizations (PAs) Overall and by Categories of Baseline State Characteristics, 2015-2019.

The overall model represents a difference-in-differences estimate of percent change in buprenorphine prescriptions per 1000 Medicaid enrollees, comparing states that removed PAs vs those that maintained PAs. Models evaluating heterogeneity by baseline prescribing, Medicaid managed care penetration, and Medicaid expansion status used a difference-in-difference-in-differences design. Models controlled for state fixed effects, year fixed effects, and the state-level covariates listed in the Statistical Analysis section. The SEs are clustered at the state level.