Annual Medical Spending Attributable To Obesity: Payer-And Service-Specific Estimates

In 1998 the medical costs of obesity were estimated to be as high as 78.5 billion, with roughly half financed by Medicare and Medicaid. This analysis presents updated estimates of the costs of obesity for the United States across payers (Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers), in separate categories for inpatient, non-inpatient, and prescription drug spending. We found that the increased prevalence of obesity is responsible for almost 0...