Health Care Spending on Respiratory Diseases in the United States, 1996–2016

To estimate healthcare spending in the United States for 11 respiratory conditions from 1996 to 2016, providing detailed trends and evaluating factors associated with spending growth. This study extracted data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Disease Expenditure Project Database, producing annual estimates in spending for 38 age and sex groups, 7 types of care, and 3 payer types. It performed a decomposition analysis to estimate the change in spending associated with changes in each of the five factors (population growth, population ageing, disease prevalence, service usage, and service price and intensity). The study findings revealed that U.S. spending on respiratory conditions is high, particularly for chronic conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore the study suggests that service price and intensity, particularly for pharmaceuticals, should be a key focus of attention for policymakers seeking to reduce healthcare spending growth.