Health Care in America

Annual Impact of Chronic Diseases on U.S. Economy Exceeds $1 Trillion, Study Finds
The annual economic impact on the U.S. economy of the most common chronic diseases that go untreated is calculated to be more than $1 trillion and could balloon to $6 trillion by mid-century, a new study released by the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, California, finds.
The report, An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease (252 pages, PDF), examines the economic burden associated with preventable illness in terms of the cost to the nation's gross domestic product and lost business growth. According to the study, seven chronic diseases — cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions, and mental illness — have a total impact on the economy of $1.3 trillion annually. Of that amount, $1.1 trillion represents the cost of lost productivity.
Assuming modest improvements in prevention and treatment, Milken Institute researchers project that by 2023 the nation could avoid forty million cases of chronic disease and reduce the economic impact of chronic disease by 27 percent, or $1.1 trillion annually. The most important factor is obesity, which — if rates declined — could lead to $60 billion less in treatment costs and $254 billion in increased productivity.
The report, which was supported with a grant from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, also measures the possible cost to future generations if escalating disease leads to lower investments in education and training. It warns that the loss of human capital and skill-building could reduce the nation's economic output by as much as $5.7 trillion in real GDP by the year 2050. To reduce the human and economic cost of disease, the report calls for more incentives to promote prevention and early intervention, and a renewed national commitment to achieve a "healthy body weight."
"By investing in good health, we can add billions of dollars in economic growth in the coming decades," said Ross DeVol, director of Health Economics and Regional Economics at the Milken Institute and principal author of the report. "The good news is that with moderate improvements in prevention and early intervention such as reducing the rate of obesity, the savings to the economy would be enormous."
“Annual Economic Impact of Chronic Disease on U.S. Economy is $1 Trillion.” Milken Institute Press Release 10/02/07.