THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CHRONIC DISEASES: STATE RANKINGS

The most common chronic diseases cost the U.S. economy $1.3 trillion annually, according to a new report from the Milken Institute, a nonprofit economic think tank. If current trends continue, those costs could balloon to nearly $6 trillion by the middle of the century.

An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease examines the economic loss associated with seven chronic diseases: cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental illness. The report also ranks all 50 states by the reported number of chronic diseases per capita, using numbers from 2003. The states with the lowest rates are Utah, Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

If modest advances are made in prevention and treatment, the nation could avoid 40 million cases of chronic disease by 2023, reducing the economic impact of chronic disease by 27 percent or $1.1 trillion annually, researchers say. The most important factor is obesity—if rates of obesity declined, the nation could spend $60 billion less for treatment and increase productivity by $254 billion.

The report is free online. An interactive site with state-by-state data is posted at http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/.

State Map