Proactive approaches to chronic disease costs

An estimated 60 percent of American adults have at least one chronic disease.¹ The number of people with three or more is projected to more than double by 2030.²

Reversing this trend is an urgent Goliath-sized undertaking, but there are strategic steps we can take to address the issue.

Doing so will not only save lives but also help lower national health care costs. Chronic diseases account for nearly 75 percent of the $3.5 trillion in annual health care spending.^3,4 As an additional economic strain, about one-fifth of lost productivity can be attributed to the onset of chronic disease.⁵

Among the top five costliest chronic diseases are diabetes and cardiovascular disease.⁶ Explore the statistics behind those conditions:^7,8,9

A dedicated investment in prevention holds great promise to curb the effects of chronic disease. Proactive steps like annual screenings, early interventions and lifestyle changes hold great potential to significantly curb the risk, or delay the effects, of chronic disease on our society.

For example, a study in American Health & Drug Benefits found that the two-year cost of treating stage IV breast cancer is $182,655, compared with less than $100,000 for stage 0 through II.¹⁰

Also consider these estimates on cost and life savings from the U.S. Surgeon General and Centers for Disease Control:^11,12

Americans currently use preventive services at only about half the recommended rate, despite many of these services being offered at little to no cost to patients.¹³

How do we increase preventive care usage? Education about those services, as well as encouragement and empowerment, are key. We need to identify at-risk individuals and provide them with the right resources at the right time. Here are a few examples of programs doing exactly that:

• Integrated wellness coaching can help reduce risk of chronic disease by reshaping healthy lifestyle habits. Programs like Quit for Life, created in partnership with the American Cancer Society, have helped 4.3 million individuals quit smoking since 1985.
• Care reminders from a health plan prompt people to take action. Members who receive reminders are 49 percent more likely to resolve a disease monitoring issue, and 30 percent more likely to resolve a potential medication-adherence issue.
• Employee well-being programs, now offered by about 70 percent of U.S. companies, can help prevent chronic disease.¹⁴ An annual survey by UnitedHealthcare revealed that 30 percent of employees with access to wellness programs got help in detecting a disease.¹⁵

Learn more about these and other Optum prevention and well-being solutions to proactively get people more preventive care and help reduce the burden of chronic disease.