| EXPECTED MORTALITY | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| NON-ABSTAINERS, RATIO ACTUAL TO EXPECTED MORTALITY | – – – – – – | 66% |
| ABSTAINERS, RATIO ACTUAL TO EXPECTED MORTALITY | — - — - — | 48% |
MORTALITY AMONG NON-ABSTAINERS—STANDARD RISKS—43.5% HIGHER THAN AMONG ABSTAINERS
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY AMONG USES OF ALCOHOL 43 AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES 1885–1908
| DEATH RATE AMONG INSURED LIVES GENERALLY—MEDICO ACTUARIAL TABLE | 100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||| |
|---|---|---|
| DEATH RATE AMONG POLICYHOLDERS USING 2 GLASSES OF BEER OR 1 GLASS OF WHISKEY DAILY | 118 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |
| DEATH RATE AMONG POLICYHOLDERS GIVING HISTORY OF PAST INTEMPERANCE, BUT APPARENTLY CURED | 150 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |
| DEATH RATE AMONG POLICYHOLDERS USING MORE THAN 2 GLASSES OF BEER OR 1 GLASS OF WHISKEY DAILY, BUT, REGARDED AS TEMPERATE & STANDARD RISKS | 186 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |
Now that accurate laboratory evidence is available regarding the physiological effect of alcohol in so-called moderate doses the insurance experience seems consistent, and the higher mortality among so-called moderate drinkers is only what we would naturally expect to find in the light of the most recent knowledge regarding its effects upon the human organism, not only in the direct causation of disease, but in lowering the defense to disease and increasing the liability to accident, and the tendency to careless living.
Medico-Actuarial Mortality Investigation
In the recent medico-actuarial investigation[8], including forty-three American life insurance companies, the combined experience on users of alcohol has been compiled, with very interesting results. It may be subdivided as follows:
First: Those who were accepted as standard risks but who gave a history of occasional alcoholic excess in the past. The mortality in this group was 50 per cent. in excess of the mortality of insured lives in general, equivalent to a reduction of over four years in the average lifetime of the group.
Second: Individuals who took two glasses of beer, or a glass of whisky, or their alcoholic equivalent, each day. In this group the mortality was 18 per cent. in excess of the average.
Third: Men who indulge more freely than the preceding group, but who were considered acceptable as standard insurance risks. In this group the mortality was 86 per cent. in excess of the average. In short, we find the following increase of mortality over the average death rate among insured risks generally: