The cost-effectiveness of methadone maintenance

Background: Although methadone maintenance is effective in reducing injection drug use, needle sharing, and the overall mortal-ity associated with opiate abuse, many health plans offer little or no access to methadone, and many methadone providers do not comply with treatment guidelines regarding dose, duration of treatment, or provision of ancillary services. Moral and political judgments have helped shape the U.S. treatment system. Evaluations of methadone cost-effectiveness may play a role in changing public policy. Methods: Cost-effectiveness analysis is used to compare a change, or changes, in treatment to that of current standard care. The cost of treatment and its effect on outcomes are used to find the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, and determine whether the change(s) should be adopted. The literature on methadone maintenance is reviewed from an economic perspective, focusing on five policy questions: (1) whether methadone should be a health care benefit; (2) what level of ancillary services is optimal; (3) what methadone dose is appropriate; (4) what length of treatment is appropriate; and (5) whether contingency contracts should be employed. Results: Expanded access to methadone maintenance has an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of less than $11,000 per Quality-Adjusted Life Year. This is more cost-effective than many widely used medical therapies, a finding that strongly supports the inclusion of methadone in the formulary of health care plans. Ancillary services have been shown to be an effective part o