The opioid epidemic is costing the healthcare industry, with spending on fighting opioid abuse and dependence rising by 3,200 percent in recent years.
A series of reports published Monday found that spending on opioid abuse rose from $71 million in 2011 to $721.8 million in 2015. The spending encompasses the charges that providers billed for services and procedures to insurers.
In addition, there was a 3,203 percent increase in claims for opioid dependence from 2007-14, according to the report from the nonprofit FAIR Health.
The epidemic is responsible for killing 72,000 people a year, when combining heroin and prescription painkiller deaths, according to federal data.
Services related to opioid abuse include hospitalization, therapy or evaluation, and management of opioid dependence.
Insurer charges for opioid abuse and dependence have been rising but at different rates. Based on the aggregate of charges for all services, the average charge for a service related to opioid dependence increased from $118 in 2011 to $170 in 2014.
Congress and the White House have made moves in the past year to expand funding for treatment programs and provide first responders with tools to prevent deaths from opioid abuse.
President Obama signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act into law earlier this year. The legislation provides new options for treatment programs for addicts and provides first responders with the overdose antidote naloxone.
