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.

Related: Opinion: The opioid crisis makes us all poorer

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.

In February 2021, the American Medical Association reported that last year, at least 40 states had an increase in opioid overdose fatalities, which were already occurring at alarming rates before COVID-19. Mental health experts have also seen increased feelings of isolation, loneliness and anxiety during the pandemic, which can all be triggers for opioid abuse.