In the United States, about half of all health care spending is targeted at a tiny group of diseases. According to new research, diabetes is the front runner, demanding more money than out health conditions.
For over 18 years, Health Metrics and Evaluation tracked the costs associated with over 155 diseases and discovered that 20 were responsible for more than half of all medical costs. The most expensive, regarding dollars expenditure was diabetes, with a 2013 price tag of 101 billion dollars. That is 13 million more dollars than the second disease on the list, ischemic heart disease. The research also suggests that diabetes-related costs have soared 36 times faster than those of ischemic heart disease.
“While it is well known that the US spends more than any other nation on health care, very little is known about what diseases drive that spending.” Dr. Joseph Dieleman, lead researcher of the paper and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington noted. “IHME is trying to fill the information gap so that decision-makers in both public and private sectors can understand the spending landscape, and plan and allocate health resources more effectively.”
While consumers 65 and over spend their health care money primarily on diabetes and heart disease, lower back and neck pain, the third-most-expensive condition, primarily digs into the wallets of the working age. These three kings of the spending heap, along with hypertension and injuries from falls, account for 18% of all personal health spending and totaled $437 billion in 2013.
The research which included spending from government and commercial insurance plans, as well as out-of-pocket expenses, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study revealed that Americans, on the whole, spent about $2.4 trillion on health care in 2013. The findings revealed that women older than age 85 had the largest expense — about $31,000 while men of the approximate age spent $24,000.
Here are the top 10 diseases and their costs:
- Diabetes – $101.4 billion
- Ischemic heart disease – $88.1 billion
- Low back and neck pain – $87.6 billion
- Hypertension – $83.9 billion
- Injuries from falls – $76.3 billion
- Depressive disorders – $71.1 billion
- Oral-related problems – $66.4 billion
- Vision and hearing problems – $59 billion
- Skin-related problems, such as cellulitis and acne – $55.7 billion
- Pregnancy and postpartum care – $55.6 billion
