The Cost of Treating Chronic Disease

The cost of treating chronic disease (cancers, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, mental disorders, and pulmonary conditions) costs billions of dollars a year, putting an incredible burden on our country's health-care system. Many of these diseases are either preventable or can be more cost-effectively managed if caught early. Our current system often simply pays to treat chronic diseases over the long term. Instead, we could save money by encouraging behavior that would stop these diseases before they start, or by attacking them quickly after the discovery of early warning signs. This map shows how much was spent treating chronic diseases cost in each state in 2003 (the last year for which data is available) and how much those costs are projected to balloon by 2023 without a change to the way our health-care system approaches these conditions.A collaboration between GOOD and Way Shape Form, in partnership with GE.