Factors associated with state legislators’ support for opioid use disorder parity laws

Abstract

Background: In the United States, state behavioral health parity laws play a crucial role in ensuring equitable insurance coverage and access to substance use disorder treatment and services for people that need them. State legislators have the exclusive authority to adopt these laws. The purpose of this study was to identify legislator beliefs independently associated with “strong support” for opioid use disorder (OUD) parity. Methods: Data were from a 2017 cross-sectional, state-stratified, multi-modal survey of state legislators (N = 475). The dependent variable was “strong support” for OUD parity. Primary independent variables were beliefs about state parity laws. Bivariate analyses and mixed effects logistic regression were conducted. Results: Legislators who “strongly supported” OUD parity were significantly more likely than legislators who did not “strongly support” OUD parity to be female (64.1% vs. 46.5%, p