Health Disparities Take a Toll on the U.S. Economy, NIH-Funded Study Finds

May 30, 2023 by Alec Stone MA, MPA, Former ONS Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy

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:

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:

“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.”


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