The growing cost of chronic diseases : GE
skip to secondary navigationChronic diseases cost us billions of dollars every year in the U.S, and the costs are only expected to rise. This map shows the cost of treating cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, mental disorders and pulmonary conditions in 2003 (the last year this data was available) and projections for 2023. It makes a good case for the need to lower healthcare costs.
In its groundbreaking study, "An Unhealthy America: The Economic Impact of Chronic Disease," the Milken Institute details the enormous financial impact of chronic disease on the U.S. economy - not only in treatment costs, but lost worker productivity - today and in the decades ahead. The study (http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/) also describes the huge savings if a serious effort were made to improve Americans' health.