Published: 08/13/2026 | Author: Eric Owens

A behavioral therapy for opioid misuse and chronic pain returns about $12 in economic benefit for every dollar spent on it, according to an economic evaluation. The University of Utah announced the findings on August 7.

The therapy is Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, abbreviated MORE. The analysis was conducted by Fernando Wilson, an economics professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Population Health Science at the University of Utah School of Medicine. 

The Numbers And Cents

The evaluation reported a benefit-to-cost ratio of 12 to 1. Over one patient’s lifetime, the analysis calculated each patient’s savings at $324,489.

Wilson’s team compared that against published estimates for other addiction treatment approaches. Comprehensive case management came in at 1.8 to 1. Residential treatment ranged between 2 to 1 and 4.8 to 1. Intensive outpatient treatment reached 5.1 to 1. That places MORE between two and six times more cost-effective than the comparators.

Researchers attribute the savings to harm reductions associated with opioid use disorder due to health care use, criminal justice involvement, lost productivity and overdose mortality.

The analysis estimates that opioid addiction costs the United States as much as $4 trillion a year in health care, criminal justice and lost productivity.

MORE Therapy

MORE was developed by Wilson’s co-author Eric Garland. Garland was a distinguished professor and associate dean at the University of Utah’s College of Social Work. 

MORE combines three components aimed at addiction, emotional distress and chronic pain at the same time. Patients learn mindfulness to control craving and pain, handle stress and negative emotions and reconnect with ordinary experiences. The approach restores the brain’s capacity to experience healthy pleasure, which in turn reduces cravings.

The Clinical Evidence

The cost analysis rests on prior effectiveness research. A trial of 250 adults with chronic pain who misused prescribed opioids found the therapy reduced misuse by 45%, and improved pain symptoms. Related work reported strengthened brain responses to positive experiences, which the researchers link to reduced craving.

The team has since tested the therapy in 16 other trials that involved 2,500+ participants.

An important distinction for readers. This body of research centers on folks with chronic pain who misuse prescribed opioids, not those with established opioid use disorder or candidates for medication treatment. It’s a prevention and early-intervention finding rather than a replacement for medications for opioid use disorder.

Garland hopes that MORE becomes a central part of the standard of care in addiction treatment settings and in primary care. He wants patients to have opportunities for interventions before opioid misuse progresses to more severe addiction.

Harm Reduction and Treatment Together

Behavioral therapy and medication are not competing options. Methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone remain the evidence-based medications for opioid use disorder, and therapy to reduce misuse of prescribed opioids sits alongside them rather than in place of them. For many people, a combo of medication, therapy, and peer support is what holds.

Naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medication sold as Narcan, is available without a prescription in every state. Fentanyl test strips let a person check a supply before using it. Neither reduces the case for treatment; both keep people alive long enough to reach it.

NA Meetings and Peer Support

Peer support works in ways that clinical care doesn’t. Narcotics Anonymous meetings are free, require no insurance or referral, and run daily, including online and Spanish-language formats. Some people attend NA alongside medication treatment, some alongside therapy like MORE, and some on its own. NA’s own literature doesn’t require you to choose.

Search NA meetings via our browsable directory by state and city to find a meeting near you, filterable by format and meeting type. 

For help finding opioid treatment programs or a prescriber, our specialists are available at 800-934-1582(Sponsored) .