A report by Milliman includes data from which I made the following charts. They show, by condition, how much it costs to treat someone with a given condition with and without a substance use disorder (SUD).
OK, it’s a bit more complex than that, because I’m only showing part of the data and I’m constrained by how Milliman broke it down. Each chart shows the total for people without a mental health (MH) condition or a SUD in blue. In red, the Medicare chart shows the additional amount for people with a SUD and the Medicaid does so for people with a SUD or mental health condition. But we know MH conditions and SUDs co-occur with high frequency, so qualitatively I believe the story that SUDs add a lot to cost.
This is another reason why it is important that researchers have access to Medicare and Medicaid SUD claims data.
