Men's Health Disparities: A U.S. Economic Burden

Although there is a burgeoning body of research focusing on identifying and understanding health disparities among men, little is known about the economic impact that men’s health disparities impose on society.  We estimated the economic burden of health disparities among White, African American, Hispanic and Asian men in the U.S.  Outcome measures included: total direct medical costs represented the sum of the costs for inpatient, emergency room, outpatient (hospital, clinic, and office-based) visits, prescription drugs, and other services (e.g., home health services, vision care services, ambulance services, dental care, and medical equipment); total indirect costs represented by loss of productivity; and the cost of premature deaths were obtained by summing the costs associated with loss of productivity and the costs of premature death. We used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for 2005-2009 to estimate the potential cost savings of eliminating health disparities for racial/ethnic minority men. We used data from the National Vital Statistics Reports to obtain the number of deaths and crude death rates by age and race for 2006 to 2009. The total direct medical care expenditures for African American men were $447.6 billion of which $24.2 billion was excess medical care expenditures. African American and Hispanic men incurred $317.6 and $115.0 billion respectively in total indirect costs to the economy. These findings indicate that we cannot afford to overlook the disparities that exist, particularly among African American and Hispanic men. Failure to do so is both socially wrong and has substantial economic consequences.