Heart disease remains most costly condition in terms of health care expenditure for women: AHRQ

Agency for Healthcare Research and QualityJul 30 2011

The cost of treating women for heart disease in 2008 was $43.6 billion, leading a list of the top 10 most expensive conditions for women, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

According to the analysis by the federal agency, in 2008, the top 10 most costly conditions in terms of health care expenditures for women were:

• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Mental disorders
• Trauma-related disorders
• Osteoarthritis
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and asthma
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Diabetes
• Back problems
• Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol levels)

The agency also found that in 2008 for women among the 10 costliest conditions:

• The second most costly disease to treat was cancer ($37.7 billion), followed by mental disorders ($37.3 billion), and trauma-related disorders ($34.1 billion).

• The lowest expenditures among the top 10 costliest conditions were for hyperlipidemia ($18.0 billion).

• The most common was high blood pressure (29.5 million).

• The least common was cancer (8.4 million).