In collaboration with the state of Minnesota, NORC is conducting an evaluation of the Minnesota's 1115 Substance Use Disorder (SUD) System Reform Demonstration. Minnesota’s 1115 Demonstration seeks to strengthen the state's behavioral health care system by creating new federal Medicaid funding opportunities for SUD services in intensive residential settings and establishing new provider networks to improve and ensure access to all levels of covered SUD services to meet a patient's assessed level of need. The waiver demonstration works to expand access to high quality, clinically appropriate SUD treatment using American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) levels of care. By expanding access to care and the use of ASAM criteria, Minnesota seeks to address the following federal goals and objectives: increase rates of identification, initiation, and engagement in treatment for SUDs; increase adherence and retention in treatment; reduce overdose deaths, particularly those attribute to opioids; reduce preventable or medically inappropriate utilization of emergency departments and inpatient hospital settings for SUD treatment by improving access to more appropriate services; reduce preventable or medically inappropriate readmissions; and improve access to care for physical health conditions among members with SUDs. 

As the independent evaluator, NORC developed and is implementing a mixed methods evaluation to assess services delivered to members diagnosed with SUD and producing final interim and summative evaluation reports. The evaluation uses Minnesota's Medicaid claims and encounter data along with administrative, enrollment, and other non-claims data to estimate the impact of the Demonstration on cost, utilization, and quality of care outcomes. Additionally, NORC is conducting a series of in-depth interviews with beneficiaries and key stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the implementation of the waiver and its outcomes.