City and County of San Francisco

The purpose of this study was to estimate a portion of the health-related economic costs of the measureable, direct effects of alcohol consumption to the City and County of San Francisco. These estimates will be used by the City to assess the public health impact of alcohol and inform policy surrounding an alcohol mitigation fee. There are two major components of this study:    

• Cost Analysis: Using data collected from City, State and national data sources, we   compute the costs of alcohol use to the City, including costs of City-funded alcohol treatment facilities, direct medical costs at City-operated health care facilities, and City paid fire and ambulance response to alcohol-related medical emergencies.
• Fee Calculation: Using alcohol consumption data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, we estimate the aggregate number of alcoholic drinks consumed in the City. We use this estimate to calculate a maximum fee per alcoholic drink (and an equivalent fee per fluid ounce of alcohol) which recovers a portion of the City’s total alcohol attributable costs.

Analyses are supported by a literature review and environmental scan.

"Throughout the engagement, Lewin consultants listened to us and delivered superb analyses and thoughtful guidance–not canned solutions."  NONPROFIT HEALTH SYSTEM