9 Investigates costs of caring for babies born addicted

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Medical leaders from around the state and country met in Orange County Monday to try to figure out how to stop a disturbing trend that 9 Investigates reporter Karla Ray first reported last year.

We told you about a dramatic spike in the number of babies born addicted to heroin and pills in Orange County. In 2015, 249 Orange County babies were born addicted to opioids, which was a 57 percent increase over the year prior. Those numbers surpassed a statewide increase of about 30 percent, and they contributed to a record state high of 2,487 babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Local doctors told 9 Investigates that the culprit for the increase is heroin, and Dr. Stephen Patrick, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, found that the cost to care for those babies falls on taxpayers.

“The national hospital bill for that problem has grown from about $200 million in 2000 to $1.5 billion in 2012. About $1.2 billion of that is paid for by state Medicaid programs,” Patrick said.

Locally, Orange County ranked third in the entire state for babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome in 2015. Over the five years leading up to that, our news partners at The Palm Beach Post found that caring for those babies statewide topped $967 million in hospital bills. The Palm Beach Post analysis found that $5 of every $6 of that number was billed to Medicaid.

“We know it's very expensive for these babies, and there's a lot of things the babies need, and weaning off of the opiate,” Carol Burkett, the director for Orange County Drug Free, said.

The Agency for Healthcare Administration is still compiling 2016 numbers of babies born addicted.

Cox Media Group