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Stories for Reprint
High Cost of Lupus
By Erin Willis, MARRTC Staff
A recent study has found people with lupus spend $10,000 to $30,000 more every year in health costs than those without the disease.
Researchers from Bristol-Myers Squibb conducted a study to estimate the direct medical costs associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis. Systemic lupus erythematosus, also known as lupus or SLE, is a chronic autoimmune disorder where the body's own immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues such as the skin, joints, and organs. Lupus nephritis is a form of SLE that affects the kidneys.
Researchers compared the costs of SLE and lupus nephritis to the general population without the disease.
Researchers looked at Medicaid records of approximately 10 million recipients between 1999 and 2005. Direct medical costs of people with SLE and lupus nephritis were analyzed during a 12-month study period, including inpatient admission, emergency room visits, outpatient and office visits, and prescription drugs. Researchers took into account demographic information and other risk factors that influence medical costs such as health status, geographic areas, and health plan types.
The results show that people with SLE spent almost $20,000 a year in direct medical costs per person, almost twice that of a person without SLE. On average nearly 50 percent the cost was from outpatient visits and over 35 percent was from hospitalization.
The cost of treating lupus nephritis was over $40,000, which is almost four times higher than a person without the disease. On average, two-thirds of the cost was from hospitalization.
The Lupus Foundation of America Medical-Scientific Advisory Council reviewed the study. Duane Peters, director of communications for the council says, "Lupus patients often need a lot of expensive medical treatment, including medications, doctor visits, and hospitalizations. This [study] just underscores and quantifies the serious nature of the disease."
According to the researchers, both SLE and lupus nephritis are expensive medical conditions that incur a large amount of costs to the American economy in hospitalization and office visits. Effective treatments to better manage the disease would decrease the need for hospitalizations, office visits, and other related costs.
"Having lupus might cost a lot less if there were better access to timely and appropriate health care," says Peters. "Many Medicaid and uninsured patients do not get regular health care and get much sicker (requiring more hospitalizations and/or more expensive treatment) before they get to proper care. [This study] clearly gives impetus to a push for better treatment to avoid the costs from hospitalization and dialysis."
Lupus affects nine times as many women as men. It may occur at any age, but usually appears most often in people between the ages of 18 and 50. Latinos, African Americans, and Asians are affected more often than Caucasians.
Lupus is one of America's least recognized major diseases, reports the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation. Nearly 1.5 million Americans have lupus which is more than cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, sickle-cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis combined, making it a prevalent medical problem. For more information on lupus, visit www.lupus.org.
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