Vision Problems Among Those Over 40 Costly

Report finds price U.S. tag tops $35 billion a year.

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, December 11, 2006; 12:00 AM

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MONDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Major vision problems in people over 40 are costing the U.S. economy an estimated $35.4 billion a year, researchers report.

"Vision disorders that affect adults are a major health problem in the country and pose a major economic burden," said study author David B. Rein. "It's a major problem because these diseases affect a lot of people, and it's a major problem because they cost a lot."

As the population ages, millions of Americans have visual impairment, blindness or other eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, primary open-angle glaucoma and refractive errors. Total costs include not only direct medical costs, but nursing home health care, the study found. In addition, there are costs associated with loss of productivity when people with visual impairment cannot work or earn lower wages than they had before, the researchers noted.

The report appears in the December issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

In the study, Rein and his colleagues from RTI International, in Research Triangle Park, N.C., looked at the cost of eye diseases in 2004. To compile the data, they used private insurance and Medicare claims to estimate direct medical costs. To estimate ancillary costs, they used published sources about costs associated with nursing home care, government purchase programs and guide dogs. In addition, they used data from a national survey about labor and income to estimate losses in productivity.

Rein's team found that major visual disorders cost an estimated $16.2 billion in direct medical costs, $11.1 billion in other direct costs and $8 billion in productivity losses, bringing the annual total to $35.4 billion. They estimated the annual governmental budgetary impact to be $13.7 billion.

In terms of specific diseases, direct medical costs were estimated to be $6.8 billion for cataracts, $5.5 billion for refractive error, $2.9 billion for glaucoma, $575 million for AMD and $493 million for diabetic retinopathy.