What is the national cost of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases (AORC) for the United States?
In 2003, arthritis and other rheumatic conditions (AORC) cost the United States $127.8 billion ($80.8 billion in medical care expenditures and $47.0 billion in lost earnings). The total national costs of $127.8 billion were 1.2% of the Gross Domestic Product, which is equal to a chronic, small recession. These are the most recent U.S. population-based cost estimates for AORC and were generated from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey conducted annually. You can learn more about the national cost estimates in the following MMWR publication. (Yelin E, Cisternas M, Foreman A, Pasta D, Murphy L, Helmick C. National and state medical expenditures and lost earnings attributable to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions — United States, 2003. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2007;56(1):4–7. A more detailed report on how the national cost estimates were derived, and comparisons between 1997 and 2003 was published: Yelin E, Murphy L, Cisternas MG, For
