Patients who are chronically ill, comprise 1 percent of the entire population of the US. They consume one-fifth of all health care resources.
The US spends 20 percent of all healthcare resources on 1 percent chronically ill population. This was reported by ama-assn.org. One-fifth of all healthcare spending in the US is consumed by 1% of the entire population, according to federal data.
The patients who avail of the services are the elderly. They have private insurance, are white and female. They may have cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other serious chronic conditions. Many have multiple health problems, and are not looked after by their relatives.
Caring for them costs more than 20% of national resources spent on all health care, as they are the most expensive 1% patients in the US.
In contrast, the least costly half of all patients are associated with only 3% of total health spending, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analysis of spending data.
Health systems are, however, trying to reduce the imbalance.
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