Opioid Abuse Archives - Word on Benefits

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Employers Improve Response, but Employees Continue to Struggle

Cara McMullin

26 Sep 202426 Sep 2024

New Survey Data Reveals Prevalent Conditions and Increased Telehealth Use As more employees grapple with mental well-being, organizations are challenged with implementing new solutions to support mental health in the workplace. Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits: 2024 Survey, a new […]

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Mental Health Parity—Pitfalls to Avoid

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

04 Apr 202408 May 2024

Recent DOL reports on Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act enforcement indicate pitfalls that plan sponsors should avoid in order to be compliant with parity rules. Learn more about impermissible exclusions of key treatments for MH/SUD and parity enforcement.

Behavioral Decision Making Communication Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Employee Benefits Employee Benefits Survey Mental Health Opioid Abuse U.S. Wellness Work Life Balance

96% of Workers Are Stressed: How Employers Can Help

Cara McMullin

19 Apr 202221 Apr 2022

April is Stress Awareness Month. As the pandemic continues and employers report high levels of stress in the workforce, the International Foundation’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits survey report reveals informative data on challenges and solutions facing organizations across the […]

Employee Benefits Mental Health Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

Employers Face Unknowns of Opioids in the Workplace

Anne Patterson

05 Feb 201905 Feb 2019

The opioid crisis continues to sweep across the United States and Canada, and workplaces are feeling the impact. The recent International Foundation report, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Benefits: 2018 Survey Results, reveals how organizations are reacting and responding to the current […]

Employee Benefits Mental Health Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

4 Ways to Control Substance Abuse Treatment Costs

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

18 Jun 201820 Jun 2018

Treating opioid addiction has become a costly problem for health plans. Particularly troubling are reports of unethical treatment facilities that exploit patients, failing to deliver on their promises of recovery. Because many of these facilities are not in-network health care providers, they […]

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Employee Benefits Health Care Mental Health Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

When Opioid Addiction Shows Up at Work

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

02 Feb 201822 Sep 2020

When his teenaged daughter came home with an opioid prescription after having her wisdom teeth removed, Randall Kratz challenged her doctor. Kratz, senior account manager for FEI Behavioral Health in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had worked as a substance abuse counselor and knew about […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Insurance Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

Opioid Epidemic: The Role of Workplace Injuries

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

21 Nov 201721 Jan 2019

Private employers reported 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2016, and it’s likely that some of those employees received prescriptions for an opioid to manage their pain. In fact, research shows that workers’ compensation insurers spend about $1.54 billion annually […]

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Talking Benefits Podcast Episode 10: Please Hold

Staff

13 Oct 201713 Oct 2017

Benefits news has been far from static in the past few weeks. After a month buzzing with activity and few definitive answers, news broke late Thursday with two new announcements from the White House impacting the future of ACA. Listen to today’s […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

Employers Feel the Impact of the Opioid Epidemic

Staff

03 Oct 2017

91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. It’s a growing epidemic that no one can ignore—including employers. Of individuals misusing pain relievers, about two-thirds are currently employed, making opioid abuse a problem in workplaces all across the country. An International […]

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Talking Benefits Episode 4: Benefits Curveballs

Staff

11 Apr 201730 May 2017

Spring is in the air. Birds singing, temperatures rising, baseball season in full swing . . . and a whole new crop of benefits developments have been popping up. International Foundation resident benefits gurus Julie, Kelli and Justin are back to talk […]