Alcohol use disorder has a big cost

The total economic cost of alcohol use disorder has been estimated to be $249 billion according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)¹, $27 billion of which has been accounted for healthcare costs². The CDC projects the economic impact to society is about $807 per person, per year.³

 

Alcohol use disorder also impacts the economy through work force disruptions caused by tardiness, absenteeism, employee turnover and conflict in the workplace. It causes a reduction in potential employees, customer and taxpayer bases.⁴

 

According to the CDC, alcohol use was directly tied to 95,000 deaths annually between 2011 and 2015. This was more than all illicit substances combined. The CDC estimates that alcohol-attributed disease resulted in almost 685,000 years of potential life lost for the same period.

 

This chart shows the years of potential life lost (YPLL) related directly or indirectly to alcohol use disorder:

Cause	YPLL
Total YPLL	>2.7 million
100% alcohol attributed disease	684,750
Suicide	334,058
Motor vehicle crashes	323,610
Liver disease	202,391
Heart disease	118,021
Cancer	88,729

 

If you need assistance connecting your patients to opioid, substance use or alcohol use disorder treatment, contact your Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plan.

 

1Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-drinking.html

2National Institute on Drug Use, 2018 https://archives.drugabuse.gov/trends-statistics/costs-substance-abuse

3Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019

4National Institute on Drug Use, 2018

 

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