Cost of cardiovascular disease to triple by 2030

Exerpts of an article from Prevention's The Heart.org. I do not know too much about Prevention' position on heart disease relative to mine (which should be quite obvious if you have read much of what I post here on Credible Evidence), but I thought there was some interesting observations made by Michael O'Riordan.

Please avail yourself of the link to the full article and their site for further insite from their perspective.

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Cost of cardiovascular disease to triple by 2030


January 25, 2011
Michael O'Riordan

Dallas, TX - In the next 20 years, more than 40% of the US population is expected to have some form of cardiovascular disease, and this will triple the total direct medical costs of caring for hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and other forms of cardiovascular disease from the current $273 billion to more than $800 billion, according to a new policy statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) [1].

In addition, the AHA estimates that the prevalence of cardiovascular disease will increase by approximately 10% over the next 20 years given no changes to prevention and treatment trends. If some risk factors, such as diabetes and obesity, continue to increase rapidly, cardiovascular disease prevalence and associated costs might increase even more, write Dr Paul Heidenreich (Veteran Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, CA) and colleagues in the report, published online January 24, 2011 in Circulation.

At present, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US and accounts for 17% of overall healthcare expenditures. In the past, the medical costs of cardiovascular disease increased at an average annual rate of 6%, and this growth in costs has been associated with an increase in life expectancy. That said, there are "many opportunities to further improve cardiovascular health while controlling costs," according to the AHA.

Cardiovascular disease is largely preventable (emphasis by Bill Davis)

The latest 2030 prevalence estimates for hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke are derived from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and Census Bureau population estimates for the years 2010 to 2030. Projections of the medical costs associated with cardiovascular disease used the 2001-2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and did not double count expenditures resulting from individuals with multiple conditions.

By 2030, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is expected to increase 9.9%, with the prevalence of heart failure and stroke increasing approximately 25%. Total direct costs will increase to $818 billion by 2030, according to the AHA estimates, and the total indirect cost to the US in terms of lost productivity is close to $275 billion.
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Offering up a glass-half-full take on the data, Heidenreich and colleagues write that it is "fortunate that cardiovascular disease is largely preventable,"(emphasis by Bill Davis) and the healthcare system needs to focus on prevention and early intervention.
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Jan 25, 2011 15:30 EST Source

1.Heidenreich PA, Trogdon JG, Khavjou OA, et al. Forecasting the future of cardiovascular disease in the United States. Circulation 2011; DOI:10.1161/CIR.0b013e31820a55f5. Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org.