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The costs of hazardous alcohol consumption in Germany

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Abstract

Hazardous alcohol consumption in Germany is a main threat to health. By using insurance claim data from the German Statutory Health Insurance and a classification strategy based on ICD10 diagnoses-codes we analyzed a sample of 146,000 subjects with more than 19,000 hazardous alcohol consumers. Employing different regression models with a control function approach, we calculate life years lost due to alcohol consumption, annual direct and indirect health costs, and the burden of pain and suffering measured by the Charlson-Index and assessed pain diagnoses. Additionally, we simulate the net accumulated premium payments over expenses in the German Statutory Health Insurance and the Statutory Pension Fund for hazardous alcohol consumers from a lifecycle perspective. In total, €39.3 billion each year result from hazardous alcohol consumption with an average loss of 7 years in life expectancy. Hazardous alcohol consumers clearly do not "pay their way" in the two main German social security systems and also display a higher intangible burden according to our definitions of pain and suffering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Recht der Wirtschaft, Universität Hamburg, Max Brauer Allee 60, 22765, Hamburg, Germany

    Tobias Effertz

  2. WINEG, Wissenschaftliches Institut der TK für Nutzen und Effizienz im Gesundheitswesen, Bramfelder Straße 140, 22305, Hamburg, Germany

    Frank Verheyen & Roland Linder

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  1. Tobias Effertz
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  2. Frank Verheyen
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  3. Roland Linder
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Correspondence to Tobias Effertz.

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Effertz, T., Verheyen, F. & Linder, R. The costs of hazardous alcohol consumption in Germany. Eur J Health Econ 18, 703–713 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-016-0822-1

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