The Impact of Substance Use Disorders in Healthcare

Substance use disorders account for billions of dollars annually in emergency and inpatient healthcare, not taking into account the healthcare costs of the disorders with which substance use disorders are associated with increased risks of developing. However, while treatment for these disorders shows a decreasing action on health costs, a low percentage of affected individuals receive treatment, despite many insurance payers providing coverage for treatments of this nature. Thus, this maintains the issues under the current healthcare system of mitigatable, generally higher, healthcare costs and increased health risks for individuals with substance use disorders.