Spending for each of the five most costly medical conditions rose by at least 21% from 2002 to 2012, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported.
That smallest-of-the-five increase of 21% belonged to the most expensive of the five, heart conditions, which rose from $83.5 billion in 2002 (in 2012 dollars) to $101 billion in 2012. The largest-of-the-five increase went to cancer, which jumped 46% from $59.8 billion to $87.5 billion, with mental disorders showing the next-largest increase as costs rose 43% from $58.6 billion to $83.6 billion, according to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The same conditions made up the top five in both 2002 and 2012.
The average expenditure per person affected actually went down slightly for mental disorders – from $1,887 to $1,849 – but the number of persons affected rose 45%, from 31.1 million in 2002 to 45.2 million in 2012, which was the largest increase among the five most costly conditions. The number of people affected went down 1% for trauma-related disorders and 10% for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rose almost 18% for heart conditions and 42% for cancer, the AHRQ said.
