The Chronic Condition Multiplier Effect On Health Care Cost

As calculated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, two-thirds of total health care spending is accounted for by care for the 25% of Americans with multiple chronic conditions. This dynamic holds true no matter the payer. The primary differences both in spending by payer, by condition, and across all conditions by payer are largely driven by characteristics of the primary populations served and what this implies for disease prevalence. For example, Medicare serves the elderly and Social Security Insurance disabled while Medicaid serves more children and low income disabled adults; and typically, commercial insurers serve . . .