“Since Governor Patrick declared opiate addiction a public health crisis, there have been lots of conversations around opiate addiction and what we can do,” said Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which represents 17 health plans.

Some plans already cover the treatment, and the health plans said they decided to offer coverage independently after conversations with state officials on how they could help.

Major Massachusetts health plans covering 2.6 million residents announced Thursday they will cover treatment with the drug methadone by July 1, in an effort to address the epidemic of addiction to opiate drugs.


Some health plans, including Medicaid, already cover methadone. The state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, has covered methadone for a decade.

The state also buys the drug in bulk and makes the treatment available to those whose insurance does not cover it. But Pellegrini said the move by its member plans to cover an effective treatment could help reduce the stigma around treating substance abuse.

Advocates and providers of substance abuse treatment praised the move, but said that the details would matter. Since methadone treatment initially requires daily visits to a clinic, a high co-pay could make the coverage prohibitively expensive.

“It sounds like a really positive step. If they institute in a way that it’s a meaningful benefit, they deserve a lot of credit, because we do have an opioid epidemic,” said Vic DiGravio, president of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, a statewide association of mental health and addiction treatment provider organizations.

Kevin Norton, CEO of Lahey Health Behavioral Services, said that the move could decrease overall health care costs.

“What we know is that if we leave someone’s substance abuse needs untreated, their strict medical costs will be anywhere from 2 to 4 times as expensive as someone with the exact same medical issue who doesn’t have a substance abuse issue,” Norton said.


DiGravio added that increased insurance coverage might help free up state resources now devoted to providing methadone, diversifying the kinds of support and services to support addiction treatment.

“This will add to the range of covered treatments for addiction, ” said Marylou Sudders, of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services .

Carolyn Y. Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@globe.com.