Published: October 25, 2009 05:12 am      

Substance abuse costs state’s health system about $116 million

CHARLESTON — Whenever talk turns to controlling the ever-rising cost of health care, someone is bound to mention the savings that could come from a reduction in largely preventable ailments, like those linked to obesity and smoking.

Less frequently discussed, though, are the preventable ailments stemming from alcohol and drug abuse, which cost West Virginia’s health care system roughly $116 million in 2007, according to a new report.

The report, compiled by the Prevention Resource Center for the Gov. Joe Manchin-appointed Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being, measured costs to the health care system from hospital visits to prescription drugs from 1999 to 2007, and found the expense has steadily grown.

By 2017, the report estimates, the cost could be more than $201 million, even as the number of patients suffering from alcohol and drug-related diseases has held steady or even declined slightly in the last decade.

The only way to bring down those costs in the future, the report says, is to spend more money now — on early intervention, prevention, treatment and recovery.

“If the state can be assertive about this, within less than 10 years, the effort could pay for itself,” said Wayne Coombs, director for research and development at the Prevention Resource Center.

Coombs wants the state to set aside about $23.5 million a year to fund a broad spectrum of programs designed to prevent people from abusing drugs and alcohol and help those currently in the grip of substance abuse get healthy. The state currently spends about $8 million on treatment, although some federal money is used for related expenses.

Coombs’ $23.5 million figure is about 5 percent of the $470 million a consulting group estimated in 2007 that drug and alcohol abuse cost the state in total. But Coombs said that estimate is probably low.

The health care report is the second part of a five-part study on how much drug and alcohol abuse costs the state across several sectors. In July, the center issued a report estimating that substance abuse costs the criminal justice system here $333 million.

When combined with the health care system figure, those two sectors already account for roughly $449 million, with three more reports still in the works.

“Unfortunately, the state’s just going to have to invest in this now to get a handle on the problem,” Coombs said.

That may be a hard sell for lawmakers, especially at a time when so many of their counterparts in other states are facing budget deficits and the hard choices that come with them.

“There’s a need across the broad for more funding, but the question is where you get the biggest bang for your buck,” said state Sen. Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.

Prezioso, who works in Marion County schools, says he sees the problems of substance abuse every day, even in middle school-aged children. Previous efforts to address those problems seem to have fallen short, he said.

“We have a lot of things in place now, and I don’t know what you do when they don’t work,” he said. “You’ve got to continue to battle it, but we just can’t seem to get ahead of it.”

Prezioso is more inclined to spend additional funds on law enforcement efforts to combat drug sales, along with more extensive education efforts in the schools.

After the resource center’s three further reports are released, there will be a comprehensive report in 2010 possibly including economists’ recommendations on what programs are most effective at addressing substance abuse from a cost-benefit perspective.