Report: Employers Spend Almost Twice as Much on Opioid Abusers

Employer medical spending on workers who are opioid abusers is nearly twice as high as spending on non-abusers, according to a report released on Wednesday. The analysis by Castlight Health, a health-benefits platform provider, found that health care expenses for opioid abusers was $19,450 on average in 2015, compared to $10,853 for workers who didn’t abuse opioids. Castlight estimated that opioid abuse could be costing employers as much as $8 billion per year. That’s on top of the cost of absenteeism and decreased productivity among workers who are misusing or abusing opioids, w...