As a benefits advisor, you're likely aware of how employee opioid abuse can impact your clients' businesses. But what your clients might not fully understand is the critical role their organization can play in opioid abuse prevention and treatment. With Americans now more likely to die from a fatal opioid overdose than in a motor vehicle accident, it's time for employers to attack the crisis—with your help.

The costs of opioid abuse on the workplace

Absenteeism, presenteeism, lost productivity and soaring health care costs are just some of the ways opioid abuse can significantly impact businesses. Consider:

Workers with a pain medication use disorder miss an average of 29 days per year, according to a 2017 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine study.
Opioid abuse costs employers approximately $10 billion from absenteeism and presenteeism alone.
According to a Johns Hopkins study, workers' compensation claim costs for employees who were prescribed just one opioid were, on average, three times greater than workers who had similar claims but were not prescribed opioids.

What's even more concerning is that it's likely these statistics will continue to worsen if underlying mental health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are left unchecked. Numerous reports have highlighted how the pandemic has fueled increases in alcohol and drug abuse.

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The broker's role in battling the opioid epidemic

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