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COPD costs the US economy an estimated $31.9 billion a year and in 1998 caused more than 112,000 deaths. This translates to an annual cost of almost $100 per person living in the United States. Recent research projects that these costs will rise by 90% between now and the year 2020. Major causes of this increase are past smoking behavior and the aging of the population. Costs incurred by the health care industry in caring for COPD patients are even more striking. The American Medical Association reports that the average cost in 1997 was $5864 per patient. While most of these costs involved inpatient services, costs of outpatient pulmonary services, home oxygen therapy, and respiratory drugs averaged $729 per case. There were 13.4 million physician office visits in 1997 and 600 thousand hospital admissions related to COPD. |
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