1. 1
Health Care spending increase due to the population
and Chronic Diseases
Gerald Sanchez
HPA 301W
Professor Knarr
The Pennsylvania State University

2. 2
What is the Issue?
Health care spending
Health spending in the United States is currently at $8, 915 per capita; which is one of the
highest among other developing countries (Who, 2013). As of 2012, the U.S. is spending $2.8
trillion on health care (California Healthcare Foundation, 2014). Of the 2.8 trillion spend on
health care, 75% of the money went towards treating chronic illnesses (CDC, 2014). According
to the National Health Council, a study in 2007 that focused on the economic impact of seven
chronic illnesses, they were, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, and pulmonary
conditions concluded that the total economic impact was $1.3 trillion in treatment cost; however,
by 2023, the impact will be about $4.2 trillion annually (National Health Council 2014). The
U.S. health spending has been increasing and will continue to increase due to factors such as the
aging in population and chronic illnesses increasing.
Demographic and Epidemiological Transitions
Epidemiological transition from acute care to chronic care and the aging population have
contributed to rise in health care cost. By 2030, about 20% of the American population will be
over the age of 65 (Matthews, 2013). This increase of the population is due to baby boomers
reaching the age of 65 and older. Baby boomers are those people born between the years 1941-
164; the total amount of children born in this time was 76.4 million or 40% of the entire
American population (History, 2010). In a 2010 graph, 80.1% of elders 65 and older live with
one or more chronic illnesses (Gerteis et al., 2010). The combination of the population aging and
these people having one or more chronic illness will increase the U.S. health spending.

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Chronic illnesses and their cost
Chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart conditions are one of the many reasons
medical spending keeping rising. In an article by, Robin Yabroff, Jennifer Lund, Deanna Kepka,
and Angela Mariotto, the estimated cost of cancer will increase 27% from 2010 to 2020 (2010).
The medical cost annually for cancer is, $124.5 billion currently and by 2020 the cost will be
$157.8 billion (Yabroff, Lund, Kepka, & Mariotto, 2010). According to a research done by the
American Diabetes Association, the medical cost of diabetes will also rise from $174 billion in
2007 to $245 billion in 2012 (American Diabetes Association, 2014). The Center for Disease
Control (CDC) says, heart diseases are the number one leading cause of death in the U.S. The
total cost of cardiovascular disease was $444 billion (CDC, 2010). In total, about $846 billion
will be spent on these three chronic illnesses alone. Treating chronic diseases is different from
acute illnesses because chronic is lifetime. Treatment over a long period of time is necessary
when having chronic illnesses compared to acute illnesses.
What is Being Debated?
Chronic illnesses management is one solution to the increase of this illness. Policies have been
presented to help patients live with their chronic conditions in their homes, this will decrease the
spending on health care. One policy in particular is called, Improving Health Together: A Policy
Framework for Chronic De
ImprovingHealthTogether:A Policy FrameworkforChronicDisease PreventionandManagementin
NewfoundlandandLabrador.
Key Policy Options and Strategies

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Improving health care together: a policy frame work for prevention and management in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Future Directions and Forecasting
References
World Health Organization [WHO]. (2013). United States of America. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en/
Sood, N., Ghosh, A., and Escarse, J. (2007, September). The effect of health care cost growth on
the U.S. economy. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from
http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/08/healthcarecost/report.html
California Healthcare Foundation. (2014). Health care cost 101: Slow growth persists. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/H/PDF%20Hea
lthCareCosts14.pdf
Swanson, R., and Hartman, K. (2006, March). Pay-for-performance: The future of incentivized
care. Cath Lab Digest. 14(3). Retrieved from http://www.cathlabdigest.com/articles/Pay-
For-Performance-The-future-incentivized-care
Matthews, S. (2013, October 3). How the aging population is changing the healthcare system.
Everyday Health. Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/senior-health/aging-
and-health/pressures-on-healthcare-from-booming-senior-population.aspx
National Health Council. (2014, February 29). About chronic diseases. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/sites/default/files/AboutChronicDisease.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2014, May 9). Chronic disease prevention
and health promotion. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/
History. (2010). Baby boomers. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomers
Gerteis, J., Izrael, D., Deitz, D., LeRoy, L., Ricciardi, R., Miller, R., and Basu, J. (2010).
Multiple chronic conditions chartbook 2010 medical expenditure panel survey data.
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/
professionals/prevention-chronic-care/decision/mcc/mccchartbook.pdf
American Diabetes Association. (2014, April 18). The cost of diabetes. Retrieved from
http://www.diabetes.org/advocacy/news-events/cost-of-diabetes.html

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Yabroff, R., Lund, J., Kepka, D., and Mariotto, A. (2010). Economic burden of cancer in the
U.S: Estimates, projections, and future research. NCBI. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3191884/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2010, July 21). Heart disease and stroke
prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/
AAG/dhdsp.htm
http://www.physicianspractice.com/blog/pros-and-cons-patient-centered-medical-home-model
http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412373-will-patient-centered-medical-home-transform-
delivery-health-care.pdf
http://pcmh.ahrq.gov/