Motorcycle Helmets: The Economic Burden of an Incomplete Helmet Law to Medical Care in the State of Connecticut.
The lack of a mandatory motorcycle helmet law leads to increased injury severity and increased health care costs. This study presents a financial model to estimate how the lack of a mandatory helmet law impacts the cost of health care in the state of Connecticut. The average cost to treat a helmeted rider and a nonhelmeted rider was $3,112 and $5,746 respectively (cost adjusted for year 2014). The total hospital treatment cost in the state of Connecticut from 2003 through 2012 was $73,106,197, with $51,508,804 attributed to nonhelmeted riders and $21,597,393 attributed to helmeted riders. The total Medicaid cost to the state of Connecticut for treating nonhelmeted patients was $18,277,317. This model demonstrates that the lack of a mandatory helmet law increases overall health care costs to the state of Connecticut, and provides a framework by which hospital costs can be reduced to contribute to the economic stability of health care economics in the state.
Daniel H
DH
Wiznia
Leon
L
Averbukh
Chang-Yeon
CY
Kim
Alex
A
Goel
Michael P
MP
Leslie
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics*; D003237:Connecticut; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006260:Head Protective Devices / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic; D009049:Motorcycles / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012042:Registries