Obesity contributes to high Medicare outlays
Obesity and certain chronic conditions weremajor factors driving virtually all Medicare spending growth for thepast 15 years, according to a new analysis of Medicare cost and patientdata.
The rate of obesity among Medicare patientsdoubled from 1987 to 2002, and spending on those individuals more thandoubled, according to economists Kenneth Thorpe and David Howard.
Their study appeared Tuesday on the website of the journal Health Affairs.
“What this study tells us is that we need toaggressively put in place interventions to deal with obesity andchronic disease prevalence among the elderly to control spending,” saidThorpe, chairman of the Department of Health Policy Management at EmoryUniversity.
In 1987, 11.7% of the Medicare population was considered obese. That number grew to 22.5% of Medicare enrollees by 2002.
Spending on medical care for obese Medicarepatients was 9.4% of the federal government program’s budget in 1987but jumped to 24.8% by 2002, according to the analysis.
Physicians also are becoming more aggressive intreating patients who have a cluster of cardiovascular-related riskfactors such as diabetes, high blood pressure or low levels of “good”cholesterol, the study found.
Such treatment patterns are good news forseniors because it means many older men and women are living longer.But more elderly Americans living longer also increases the long-termcosts of the Medicare program.
Read more in USA Today. Or go whole-hog and get the Heath Affairs article.
Then, check out the US’s obesity rate compared with that of other OECD nations.
Obesity is a major problem in this country that threatens to threaten our health- and long-term care industries in the next three decades. So get out there and get active!