Recent studies also have continued to investigate cost offsets, or net reductions in health care costs attributable to alcoholism treatment. One study of health insurance claims generated by employees and dependents who received alcoholism treatment showed that after the initiation of treatment, health care costs incurred by alcoholics declined, but that differences in these costs from pre-treatment levels were relatively modest (Goodman et al. 1997). The researchers found that cost offsets were greater for clients who initially received inpatient rather than outpatient treatment.
