The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently announced in its research news and activities that heart conditions, cancer, trauma-related disorders, mental disorders, and asthma were the five most costly conditions between 1996 and 2006.
The announcement indicated that “the number of Americans under care for depression and other mental illnesses nearly doubled between 1996 and 2006, and the overall cost of treating them jumped by nearly two-thirds.” The Agency’s recent data analysis also indicated “that the number of patients treated for mental disorders, including depression and bipolar disease, increased from 19 million to 36 million. The overall treatment costs for mental disorders rose from $35 billion (in 2006 dollars) to nearly $58 billion, making it the costliest medical condition between 1996 and 2006. The cost per treatment of patients with mental disorders dropped from 1996 – 2006 from $1,825 to $1,591 which contributed to a 13% decrease.
The most amazing finding was that the treatment of heart disease, the most common cause of death increased less than $6 billion over ten years from $72 billion in 1996 to $78 billion in 1996. This is an overall increase of 8% or less than 1% per year. Even more remarkable was the decrease in the cost per heart patient dropped 9% from $4,333 to $3,964.
The report, which was based on analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), also found that:
– Heart disease, cancer, trauma-related disorders, and asthma joined mental disorders to comprise the five most costly conditions in both 1996 and 2006.
– Overall spending for heart disease treatment increased the least, from $72 billion in 1996 to $78 billion in 2006.
– Spending for cancer treatment went from $47 billion to $58 billion; asthma costs rose from $36 billion to $51 billion; and the cost to treat trauma-related disorders climbed from $46 billion to $68 billion.
– In terms of average per-patient cost, cancer accounted for the highest, up slightly from $5,067 to $5,178, but treatment costs for trauma and asthma rose more steeply, increasing from $1,220 to $1,953 and from $863 to $1,059, respectively. In contrast, average per-patient spending for heart conditions and mental disorders fell from $4,333 to $3,964 and $1,825 to $1,591, respectively.
With such increases in the number of patients and amount of money spent on these diseases, why should Congress be concerned with how much money industry is being spent to work with academic medical centers and physicians to create new treatments for such diseases which clearly show a net benefit.
The report confirms the net benefit of research in heart disease and mental disorders and in future years will show such net benefits in other disease areas. As we add additional patients to the health care rolls, the overall cost will increase, but in the end with breakthroughs in research we should see a net decrease in treatment costs.