Healthy Body, Fewer Bills
The health costs of disease are rising at an alarming rate.
Check out these statistics:
-
The 2007 per capita annual costs of health care for people with diabetes is $11,744 a year according to the American Diabetes Association.
- The American Heart Association found that in 2003, each Medicare beneficiary discharged from the hospital with Cardiovascular Disease as the primary diagnosis was billed at an average of $8,966.
The AHA also says that the mean lifetime cost of having a stroke in the United States is estimated at $140,048. This includes inpatient care, rehabilitation and follow-up care necessary for lasting deficits.
- Scientists at RTI International Health, Social and Economics Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the financial costs to businesses in terms of employee medical costs and sick days.
The researchers found that as BMI increased, so too did medical expenses for both men and women. The additional costs ranged from $162 for slightly obese men to an extra $1,524 for men with a BMI greater than 40. For overweight women, these costs ranged from $474 to $1,302. When the team factored in the cost of lost work days for obese employees, they calculated that the per capita cost of obesity amounts to between $460 and $2,485 annually.
The best way to reduce your personal medical costs is to prevent disease in the first place. To do that, maintain a healthy lifestyle by:
- Exercising regularly
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables
Those who practice a healthy lifestyle take fewer trips to the doctor’s office, miss fewer days of work or school, and recover from illnesses faster.
