Theresa Juday, RPh, director, Specialty Product Development, CVS Health, discusses the indirect and direct cost burden associated with chronic insomnia.
Patients with chronic insomnia have been shown in prior research to have an increased health care cost burden than the general population, which may also affect employers and payers, said Theresa Juday, RPh, director, Specialty Product Development, CVS Health.
Transcript
Can you speak on the direct and indirect cost-related implications of chronic insomnia treatment?
From a direct cost perspective, we've seen several studies that show that people with chronic insomnia really can have higher health care costs. One study showed that patients with chronic insomnia had 46% higher health care costs 12 months post diagnosis than patients who did not have chronic insomnia.
And if you add in a comorbidity, so if you are a patient with chronic insomnia who also happens to have diabetes or obesity issues, then you have 80% higher health care costs. So, just from a direct health care cost perspective, certainly chronic insomnia has been shown to increase costs. But when you think about what's indirect, you've got a couple of areas.
Number one, complications can be seen for patients who have chronic insomnia. So, they are at higher risk of developing depression, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety disorders. And in addition, they are also more likely, at least in some studies, to have increased infection rates—in patients who have chronic insomnia.
In addition to those items, we also see that indirect costs can extend to employers. One study showed that work-related incidents caused by chronic insomnia actually cost US employers about $31 billion. So, you not only can have impact from direct health care costs and direct patient health in terms of increased infection risks, increased chance of developing certain comorbidities, but it's also directing payer costs as well, considering these [issues], such as lost productivity, workplace accidents, etc.
Study Highlights Significant Increases in Utilization, Spending on DMD Drugs in Medicaid
May 17th 2024The findings add to recent research on the growing utilization, expenditure, and prices of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) therapies in the current landscape, an area health care policy could potentially address.
Read More
Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach
May 9th 2024In the series debut episode of "Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity," Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Listen
Panel Addresses Minority Physician Shortage, Maternal Health at Senate Committee Hearing
May 15th 2024The senate hearing held by the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I, Vermont), chairman of the committee, and ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, (R, Louisiana), addressed the critical issue of physician and health care worker shortages, as well as the maternal health crisis, in the US.
Read More
Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience
April 30th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.
Listen
Bleeds and Resource Use in Hemophilia B: Retrospective Observational Study
May 15th 2024This real-world US study describes individuals with hemophilia B who experience bleeds despite factor replacement therapy and quantifies the associated comorbidity and health care resource utilization burden.
Read More
A new study highlights significant disparity in reimbursement rates across states between hospitals and Medicare; the first patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney has died; research examines outcomes of over 500 patients receiving medication abortion pills by mail.
Read More