![]() ![]() Annual costs for cancer more than doubled from 1992 to 2004. Medicare spending on heart disease grew from $21.1 billion in 1992 to $34.9 billion in 2000, with spending on depression growing from $1.3 billion to $2.5 billion during the same period. 2 Medicare spent $10.4 billion alone on diabetes in the year 2000. This could be significantly decreased by increasing levels of physical fitness, specifically for heart disease, depression, cancer, arthritis and diabetes. Reducing the cost of the Medicare and Medicaid programs alone can account for more than $84 billion annually for five major chronic conditions. Reducing the Cost of Medicare and Medicaid Programs Indirect costs are estimated to be three times that of direct costs.5 Both employees and employers can benefit from wellness programs that include physical fitness, stress management, smoking cessation, prenatal care and nutrition. 4 Indirect costs include: training replacement workers, longer rehabilitation times and the cost of drug reactions. It has been estimated that workplace physical activity programs can reduce short-term sick leave by 6-32 percent, reduce health care costs by 20-55 percent and increase productivity by 2-52 percent. The study estimated that increasing regular, moderate physical activity among the more than 88 million inactive Americans over the age of 15 could reduce annual direct medical costs by as much as $76.6 billion in 2000. A 1996 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that physically active people had, on average, lower annual direct medical costs than inactive people. Since regular physical activity helps prevent disease and promote health, it's reasonable to expect it will decrease health care costs. Reducing Health Care Costs and Increasing Productivity Adoption of a population-wide physical activity strategy can produce cost savings among most adults. 2 The high cost of health care and the economic impact of lost productivity run into billions of dollars annually. There are other costs associated with the value of future earnings lost by premature death. 2 The economic cost from work loss and decreased productivity from disability also can decrease with a reduction in chronic diseases. ![]() These costs include expenditures for physician visits, pharmaceuticals, ambulance services, rehabilitation services and hospital and nursing-home care. Health care costs for preventive, diagnostic and treatment services related to chronic conditions can be dramatically reduced by a more physically active population. One of the greatest economic drains on society can be impacted if chiropractic patients are encouraged to exercise regularly. Financially, the astronomical cost to society in terms of lost productivity and ever-increasing health care costs can be mitigated by decreasing sedentary lifestyles. Medically, many chronic diseases can occur including heart disease, stroke, colon cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and depression. A physically inactive population puts our society at risk both medically and financially. This progress reduced morbidity and mortality associated with many chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease. Kennedy's call to improve the fitness of all Americans. In the long run, physical inactivity threatens to reverse the decades of progress that followed President John F. Overall fitness, as well as reduced back pain, depends on regular exercise. 1 Chiropractors have an important role to play in the reduction of such cost by encouraging active lifestyles when counseling patients on health promotion and wellness. The costs associated with physical inactivity are borne by taxpayers, employers and individuals. There is a growing body of research quantifying physical inactivity as a serious and expensive public-health problem. The economic consequences of inactivity are substantial. ![]()
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