Five Most Costly Medical Conditions

More than $400 billion of the $1.26 trillion Americans spend annually on health care is devoted to just five medical conditions. Below are the five conditions, their total annual expense, and the percentage of the population with the expense in 2009 (the most recent data available)...

1. Heart disease: $99.2 billion (7.5%)
2. Trauma: $80.8 billion (11.0%)
3. Cancer: $80.3 billion (4.8%)
4. Mental disorders: $79.8 billion (12.8%)
5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma: $64.2 billion (15.4%)

Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, The Concentration of Health Care Expenditures and Related Expenses for Costly Medical Conditions, 2009