Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The annual cost of heart failure (HF) is estimated at 39. 2 billion. This has been acknowledged to underestimate the true costs for care. The objective of this analysis is to more accurately assess these costs. Publicly available data sources were used. Cost calculations incorporated relevant factors such as Medicare hospital cost-to-charge ratios, reimbursement from both government and private insurance, and out-of-pocket expenditures. A recently published Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) HF scheme was used to adjust the HF classification scheme. Costs were calculated with HF as the primary diagnosis (HF in isolation, or HFI) or HF as one of the diagnoses/part of a disease milieu (HF syndrome, or HFS). Total direct costs for HF were calculated at 60. 2 billion (HFI) and 115. 4 billion (HFS). Indirect costs were 10. 6 billion for both. Costs attributable to HF may represent a much larger burden to US health care than what is commonly referenced. These revised and increased costs have implications for policy makers.
Voigt et al. (Sat,) studied this question.