The Opioid Epidemic Was Not Caused by Economic Distress But by Factors that Could be More Rapidly Addressed

Abstract

Without the opioid epidemic, American life expectancy would not have declined prior to 2020. In turn, the epidemic was sparked by the development and marketing of a new generation of prescription opioids and provider behavior is still helping to drive it. There is little relationship between the opioid crisis and contemporaneous measures of labor market opportunity. Cohorts and areas that experienced poor labor market conditions do show lagged increases in opioid mortality, but the effect is modest relative to the scale of the epidemic. Instead, we argue that there are specific policies and features of the U.S. health care market that led to the current crisis. It will not be possible to quickly reverse depressed economic conditions, but it is possible to implement policies that would reduce the number of new opioid addicts and save the lives of many of those who are already addicted.

Economic Studies on the Opioid Crisis: A Review

“…In particular, the authors find a weak link among women and no relationship among men. Currie and Schwandt (2020) further illustrate that current labor market opportunities do not explain a substantial part of the opioid crisis, and urge attention towards policies aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic itself.…”

The Economic Status of People with Disabilities and their Families since the Great Recession

“…The ongoing decline in self-reported disability is even more apparent in Panel B of Figure 1, which displays disability incidence calculated from annual averages of the twelve monthly surveys (rather than just the March survey as in Panel A). Other factors beyond economic conditions may be contributing to the recent decline in reported disability-for example, the recent easing of the U.S. opioid epidemic (Currie and Schwandt 2021), which may reduce self-reported disability associated with opioid dependence.…”

Recent Trends in the Material Well-Being of the Working Class in America

“…With the historic reliance on employer-provided health insurance, working households displaced during economic downturns face the double jeopardy of lost insurance coverage. This exposure is especially acute when the source of the furlough is a health-related crisis, layered on top of other secular health crises such as the opioid epidemic (Case and Deaton 2015; Currie and Schwandt 2021). The ACA was a clear policy advance for low-income households, but as documented here, a large share of the least-advantaged households still remain uncovered.…”