While they're not the typical sufferers one thinks of when one hears about the rampant abuse of opioids in the country today, Medicare beneficiaries should be included in the picture — and they could be getting the short end of the stick when it comes to help.

Kaiser Health News reported that a research letter published by JAMA Psychiatry said that the beneficiaries of Medicare have the highest, and the fastest-growing, rate of "opioid use disorder." One out of every thousand patients covered by commercial insurance plans is a sufferer, but among Medicare patients, that number swells to 6 out of every 1,000.

The letter said that Medicare beneficiaries could be falling through the cracks when it comes to treatment, too. While 2013 saw a high level of opioid prescription painkillers for Medicare patients, doctors were far less often prescribing buprenorphine-naloxone, which is the only effective drug therapy for opioid use disorder covered by Medicare Part D.