December 27, 2011
It is well-documented that violence in the home as well as outside the home leads to emotional pain, stress, and physical suffering. A recent article in the December 2011/January 2012 Issue of the periodical Case in Point by Madeleine Gomez Ph.D. and Ernest Zambrano, M.B.A. documents calculations of the financial cost of violence to our medical system. In making the calculations, Gomez and Zambrano included both the direct and indirect costs of violence.
Here are their numbers for 2011:
- Domestic Violence Costs – $7,214,880,939
- Lost Productivity due to Domestic Violence – $3,167,509
- Gun-associated Violence – $36,356,369,206
- Indirect Costs of Mental Illness, including Disability – $226,794,493,617
- Total: $1,439,428,034,311
As explained by Gomez and Zambrano, these numbers only constitute an attempt to calculate medical costs associated with violence. Additional costs not incorporated in these calculations include law enforcement, legal, monitoring, court, incarceration, and special school costs, as well as collateral expenses associated with witnesses to the violence.
Gomez and Zambrano also list recommendations for what can be done to help reduce violence, including new parent education and home intervention programs.
For details describing the calculations and their bases, see the full text of this article at the following link: Healthcare’s Violent Struggle, Assessing the Economic Importance of Reducing Violence.