This project is to study the costs and utilization of health care for alcoholics and their family members following treatment for alcoholism. a longitudinal research design with two untreated comparison groups, and multiple pretests and posttests will be utilized to conduct an 8-year study of employees of Deer & Company (commonly known as John Deere), the world's largest manufacturer of farm equipment, employing over 60,000 persons. The study will utilize (a) a randomly selected sample of 360 treated alcoholic Deere employees, (b) a matched comparison group of 180 untreated alcoholic employees, and (c) a matched comparison group of 360 nonalcoholic employees. Research hypotheses concern statistically significant differences in health care costs and utilization of the treated alcoholic group (as well as family members) before and after alcoholism treatment compared with the matched comparison groups. If there are cost and utilization reductions, it is hypothesized that the treated alcoholic group will converge toward the patterns of the nonalcoholic group over time and that patterns of care will change with fewer inpatient days and greater proportionate use of outpatient care. Both comparison groups will be matched with the treated alcoholic group by age, sex, employment location, type of position, and family composition. All data will be completely anonymous and no individuals or families will be identifiable. While studies have examined the unemployed or institutionalized alcoholic, most suffer from major methodological limitations. Further there have been very few health care utilization and cost studies of employed alcoholics. As a result, employers and health insurance carriers are often reluctant to specifically include coverage of alcoholism treatment for fear of increased costs. Deere & Company has an alcoholism and drug abuse policy and comprehensive treatment for these conditions are covered by the Company health insurance plan. Project results can make a significant contribution to our understanding of the health care costs and utilization of employed alcoholics and their families, as well as provide policy relevant data for health care cost containment for industry, government, and insurance companies which are derived from a natural setting.
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| Holder, H D; Blose, J O (1992) The reduction of health care costs associated with alcoholism treatment: a 14-year longitudinal study. J Stud Alcohol 53:293-302 |
| Blose, J O; Holder, H D (1991) Injury-related medical care utilization in a problem drinking population. Am J Public Health 81:1571-5 |
| Holder, H D; Blose, J O (1991) A comparison of occupational and nonoccupational disability payments and work absences for alcoholics and nonalcoholics. J Occup Med 33:453-7 |
| Blose, J O; Holder, H D (1991) The utilization of medical care by treated alcoholics: longitudinal patterns by age, gender, and type of care. J Subst Abuse 3:13-27 |
| Holder, H D; Blose, J O (1991) Typical patterns and cost of alcoholism treatment across a variety of populations and providers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 15:190-5 |
