Annual Economic Impact of Chronic Disease on New Jersey Economy Is $...( New Jersey Health Care Quality In...),Health

New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute Announces Results of Milken

Institute Study

Future Costs Can Be Avoided with Proper Treatment and Prevention

Initiatives

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking study released by the Milken Institute, the annual economic impact on New Jersey's economy of the most common chronic diseases is calculated to be $39 billion. In the U.S. as a whole, the cost is a staggering $1 trillion, which could balloon to nearly $6 trillion by the middle of the century.

Yet the news is not entirely grim because much of the future cost is avoidable.

"An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease" brings to light for the first time what is often overlooked in the discussion of the impact of chronic disease-the economic loss associated with preventable illness and the cost to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and American businesses in lost growth.

The results of the study were released at a press briefing sponsored by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick.

"This is a healthcare no-brainer," said David L. Knowlton, President & CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. "We can continue to ignore the consequences of not properly investing in treatment and prevention alternatives or we can make those investments and reap billions in savings."

"The data presented by the Milken Institute today highlights the true cost burden of our failure to address chronic disease," added Professor Carl Van Horn, Ph.D., director of the Heldrich Center. "We must reduce the rate of chronic disease to avoid potentially devastating economic damage to our state and nation."

According to the study, seven chronic diseases-cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental illness- have a total impact on New J
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