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TFAH • WBT • PaininTheNation.org
Deaths of Despair & the Healthcare Sector
The deaths of despair dramatically impact
our nation's healthcare system. Overdose
patients are inundating hospitals and
overwhelming first responders. One-third
of adult hospital stays and one-fourth of
teenage hospital stays in 2012 included a
mental or substance use diagnosis.
8,9
In fact, hospital stays for mental health/
substance use was the only category of
hospitalizations that increased from
2005 to 2014 and, between 2009 and
2014, opioid-related inpatient stays
increased 64 percent and emergency
department visits doubled.
10,11
During a similar period, drug-use
related hospital stays for mothers and
newborns also rose, including a 135
percent increase in maternal hospital
stays for opioids.
12
These increases
are reflected in community health
needs assessments, with communities
consistently ranking behavioral health
and substance use as two of their top
three health concerns.
13,14,15,16,17
The increases in these expensive
conditions are also driving up our nation's
healthcare costs. Healthcare spending on
patients with substance use disorders or
at risk for suicide in 2014 were 2.5 times
higher than average at $20,113 per patient
per year.
18
Accordingly, these patients
account for a disproportionate share of
total healthcare spending, with roughly 9.5
percent of total health costs spent on the
3.8 percent of the population with drug,
alcohol or suicide-related diagnoses.
19
For the purposes of this brief, behavioral health involves substance use, mental
health and other psychological conditions.
Percentage of hospital stays in 2012 that included a mental or
substance-use diagnosis.
Adults Teenagers
28% 32%
