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Analysis finds opioid epidemic cost U.S. nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020 

Crystal Graham
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In recognition of National Recovery Month, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, led by Chairman Don Beyer (D-VA), released a new analysis that finds the opioid epidemic cost the United States a record of nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020.

This is up 37 percent from 2017, when the CDC last measured the cost.

After the pandemic disrupted the U.S. health care system, reducing access to substance abuse treatment and exacerbating social and economic stress that can worsen addiction, opioid use increased, according to a news release from the JEC.

Data show the highest numbers of fatal opioid overdoses ever reported in 2020 and 2021 – 69,061 and 80,926 fatalities, respectively – and opioids are now the main driver of drug overdose deaths.

In addition to the toll on families and loved ones, opioid use imposes significant economy-wide costs.

Adapting a methodology used by the CDC to estimate the cost of the opioid epidemic in 2017, the JEC estimates the opioid epidemic cost $1.04 trillion in 2018, $985 billion in 2019 and nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020. The rise in fatal opioid overdoses in 2021 suggests the total cost is likely to continue to increase.

While the majority of those who overdose from opioids are white, Black communities are now disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis; disparities in health care access and barriers to treatment combine to exacerbate racial and economic inequality.

“Without question, the greatest tragedies of the opioid epidemic continue to be the lives lost, the families and communities they’ve left behind and the many who are still struggling with addiction,” said Beyer. “But what the new JEC estimates make clear is just how disastrous this crisis has also been for our entire economy.

“Just as the pandemic exacerbated many societal inequities, it also disrupted treatment and created new health challenges that worsened our country’s opioid problem. As a nation, we are now less healthy, less economically competitive and less secure as a result of the opioid epidemic that continues to ravage our country. We must continue to take action to address this public health and economic crisis.”

Federal, state and local governments have increased investments in drug treatment and prevention programs. The president has emphasized harm reduction and called for a whole of government approach to beating the overdose epidemic as part of his Unity Agenda.

Last week, the White House announced it was awarding $1.5 billion to all states and territories to address the epidemic, which is in addition to the nearly $5.5 billion provided by the American Rescue Plan Act and other Biden Administration actions in 2021 to fund treatment programs across states and territories.

The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee is Congress’s bicameral economic think tank. It was created when Congress passed the Employment Act of 1946. Under this act, Congress established two advisory panels: the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the JEC. Their primary tasks are to review economic conditions and to recommend improvements in economic policy.

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.