The Costs of Poor Health Habits

Willard G. Manning; Emmett B. Keeler; Joseph P. Newhouse; Elizabeth M. Sloss; Jeffrey Wasserman

Published by Harvard University Press 1991

The Costs of Poor Health Habits

Willard G. Manning , Emmett B. Keeler , Joseph P. Newhouse , Elizabeth M. Sloss and Jeffrey Wasserman

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674422261

Overview
Contents

About this book

Poor health habits (drinking, smoking, lack of exercise) obviously take their toll on individuals and their families. The costs to society are less obvious but certainly more far-reaching. This investigation is the first to quantify the financial burden these detrimental habits place on American taxpayers. Willard Manning and his colleagues measure the direct costs of poor health habits (fire damage, motor vehicle accidents, legal fees), as well as collectively financed costs (medical care, employee sick leave, group health and life insurance, nursing home care, retirement pensions, liability insurance). Consider two co-workers covered by their employer's health plan: both pay the same premium, yet if one drinks heavily, the other--through their mutual insurance program--involuntarily funds the resulting health problems.

After laying out their conceptual framework, methods, and analytical approach, the authors describe precisely how and to what extent drinking, smoking, and lack of exercise are currently subsidized, and make recommendations for reducing or reallocating the expense. They present, for example, a persuasive case for raising excise taxes on alcohol. The authors correlate their data to make costs comparable, to avoid double counting, and to determine the exact costs of each of these poor health habits and some of their findings are quite surprising.

This unique study will be indispensable to public health policy specialists and researchers, as well as to health economists.

Author information

Newhouse Joseph P. :

Joseph P. Newhouse is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University.

Reviews

In what is probably the best single source on the costs of poor health habits, this study combines up-to-date information in one volume and provides very valuable economic analysis of costs, particularly on the treatment of external costs. The external costs, or how poor health habits of some people (e.g., smoking, drinking, and lack of exercise) impose costs on others, are important in terms of government, and insurance companies' and employers' efforts to improve health habits...The data sources, conceptual framework, and statistical analysis are well used and formulated. The authors draw important and usable policy implications.

Imagine a book written by economists that is technically sophisticated, packed with interesting data, and concerned with a topic that is of great interest to policy makers as well as individuals interested in improving their health. The Costs of Poor Health Habits satisfies this bill. This work is a carefully executed, economically based, large scale empirical study of the costs, especially external costs, of smoking, drinking, and a sedentary lifestyle...As might be expected of any large, important study on a controversial topic, this book has already generated interesting debate...This book will continue to attract much attention and generate controversy, and deservedly so as it is a major work in this area. In addition, it is well written, carefully executed, and technically sophisticated, yet accessible to a broad audience.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
1. An Overview Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Conceptual Framework Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
3. Data and Statistical Methods Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
4. The External Costs of Smoking Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
5. The External Costs of Heavy Drinking Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
6. The External Costs of Sedentary Life-Styles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
7. Conclusions, Limitations, and Implications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
A Literature Review of the Costs of Smoking and Drinking Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
B. Survival Parameters from the HRA Model Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
C. HIE Habit Batteries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
D. Statistical Methods Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
E . Comparability of HIE and NHIS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
F . Excise Taxes and Demand Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
G. Parameters Used in the Cost Model Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
H. A Note on the Alcohol Tax Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Selected RAND Books Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 223
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 1
- Tables: 73
- Other: 1 line illustration, 74 tables
Keywords: MEDICAL / Public Health; MEDICAL / Health Risk Assessment; Alcohol Drinking -- economics.; Health behavior -- Economic aspects.; Life Style.

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674422261

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1991
ISBN: 9780674422254