How Businesses Save
Identifying and treating alcohol problems is good business. Experts expect the cost of providing employee health insurance coverage to double by 2007, prompting many employers to consider strategies to help control costs. Increasing access to alcoholism treatment can help them achieve this goal while improving overall productivity.
Alcoholism is a chronic disease with many similarities to asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. Most employers don’t recognize that it typically progresses in stages. They aren’t aware that brief, inexpensive interventions can help many people cut back on their drinking before they become dependent on alcohol. Unfortunately, by the time many employees seek help for alcoholism, they require more extensive and expensive formal treatment. At that point, limits on their health insurance coverage may prevent them from getting the treatment they need. As a result, problem drinking, which can range from a drunk driving accident to acute liver disease, can increase an employer’s health care costs and interfere with worker productivity over a period of many years.
