An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of ... - Milken Institute

An Unhealthy AmericaMilken InstituteArizona. The low scores for Massachusetts and Maine result from the high incidence of cancers and, perhaps,better reporting rates. In June 2007, a study from the New England Healthcare Institute, The Boston Paradox: Lotsof Health Care, Not Enough Health, concluded that despite having one of the leading health-care clusters in theworld, Boston’s residents have a surprisingly high prevalence of several types of cancers and other chronicdiseases. 24We find that all states stand to gain in the 2023 optimistic scenario (see figure 17) , with even the less populousstates, such as Alaska, avoiding 79,000 cases of chronic disease (a 16.4 percent reduction) and achieving benefitsof $2.6 billion (27.0 percent) through lower treatment costs and higher productivity. Iowa avoids 351,000 casesand gains $9.9 billion in economic benefit. New Hampshire avoids 183,000 cases and gains $5.2 billion in lowertreatment costs and higher levels of economic activity. Among more populous states, California avoids 4.3 million(17.6 percent) cases of chronic disease and gains $117.1 billion (27.1 percent) through lower treatment costs andhigher productivity in 2023. Texas eliminates 3.2 million cases and gains $90.2 billion in economic benefit. NewYork benefits in a major way as well, avoiding 2.3 million cases and achieving economic benefits of $63.8 billion.[ 27 ]