(Reuters.com) — The costs of heart disease in the United States will triple between now and 2030, to more than $800 billion a year, a report commissioned by the American Heart Association predicted on Monday.
Treating high blood pressure will be the most expensive part of the cost, rising to $389 billion by 2030, the report projects, with overall heart disease rising by 10 percent by then.
The report is bad news for the United States, which already has the highest per capita healthcare costs in the developed world and is struggling to lower expenses. Last week the Republican-led House of Representatives passed legislation that would repeal President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform law, although it will likely be scuttled by the Senate.
The report does not factor in changes that are part of the reform law, which the White House says will provide health insurance and preventive care to 32 million Americans who currently lack it.
But Heart Association CEO Dr. Nancy Brown said the legislation calls for preventive care and practices that could make a dent in the projected toll.
“The repeal of healthcare reform … would be a catastrophe,” Brown told a news conference.
“This country has a choice to make: We can wait until people get sick and figure out how to treat them or we can focus on prevention.”
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