DOES INCREASED SPENDING ON ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT LEAD TO

Abstract — The purpose of this study was to see if recent changes in the funding of alcoholism programmes in the United States were related to changes in liver cirrhosis death rates. Data on per-capita spending, per-capita alcohol consumption and cirrhosis death rates were gathered from various sources for the years 1979 and 1989 for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Regression analysis showed that greater increases in spending on alcoholism across US states were associated with greater declines in cirrhosis mortality rates. Since alcohol-related deaths cause large productivity losses and treatment is relatively cheap this creates large savings for society