Health Disparities Take a Toll on the U.S. Economy, NIH-Funded Study Finds
Racial and ethnic health disparities cost the U.S. economy $451 billion in 2018 (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states), a 41% increase from the 2014 estimate (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21563622/) of $320 billion, according to results from a study funded (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2804818) by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers also reported that the total burden of education-related health disparities for people with less than a college degree reached $978 billion in 2018 (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states).
Looking just at national estimates, researchers found (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states) that the economic burden, by racial and ethnic minority groups, included the following:
- Most of the economic burden for racial and ethnic disparities was borne by the Black population (69%) because of the level of premature mortality.
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander ($23,225) and American Indian/Alaska Native ($12,351) populations had the highest economic burden per person.
- Most of the economic burden was attributed to premature deaths for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (90%), Black (77%), and American Indian/Alaska Native (74%) populations. For Asian (55%) and Hispanic/Latino (43%) populations, most of the burden was from excess medical care costs and lost labor market productivity, respectively.
Researchers also discovered (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states) that the national estimates for economic burden by educational level were:
- Per person, adults with a high school diploma had the highest burden ($9,982), followed closely by adults with less than a high school diploma ($9,467), and then adults with some college ($2,028).
- Although most of the burden of education-related health inequities was borne by adults with a high school diploma or GED (61%), a disproportionate share was borne by adults with less than a high school diploma or GED.
- Across all educational levels, most of the burden was attributable to premature deaths (66%), followed by lost labor market productivity (18%), and excess medical care costs (16%).
“The exorbitant cost of health disparities is diminishing U.S. economic potential,” Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD, NIMHD director, said (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states). “We have a clear call to action to address social and structural factors that negatively impact not only population health but also economic growth.”