Opioid Use Disorder and Employee Work Presenteeism, Absences, and Health Care Costs

OBJECTIVE: To measure the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) and employee health care and productivity costs with and without OUD and to assess whether utilization of pharmacotherapy for OUD reduces those costs. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2016-2017 commercial enrollment, health care, and pharmacy claims and health risk assessment data using the IBM(R) MarketScan(R) Databases. We estimated regression models to assess the association between OUD and annual employee health care and productivity costs. RESULTS: Health care and productivity costs for employees with OUD who did and did not receive pharmacotherapy were approximately $6,294 and $21,570 more than for other employees, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Employers can make a business case for expanding access to pharmacotherapy treatment for OUD based on our finding that receipt of pharmacotherapy significantly reduces overall health care costs.