Facts & Statistics

Of adult Americans, age 20 years or older, only 34 percent are not overweight or obese.[1]

83 cents of every dollar spent in Medicaid goes to treating preventable and highly manageable chronic diseases, including diabetes, asthma, and hypertension.[2]

Medication non-adherence is associated with a 5.4 times increased risk of hospitalization, rehospitalization, or premature death for patients with high blood pressure, when controlling for all other factors.[3]

Over $18 billion is spent annually on avoidable emergency department visits.[4]

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes are responsible for seven in 10 deaths and account for 75 percent of the nation’s healthcare spending.[5]

In 2011, nearly 57 percent of office-based physicians used an electronic medical records/electronic health records system.[6]

It is projected that by 2020 the U.S. will spend $685 billion a year in direct medical costs for persons with chronic diseases, and by 2050--$906 billion.

One in five high school students are current smokers.[7]

More than half of all Americans have one or more chronic illnesses, many of which are preventable.[8]

$96 billion of public and private healthcare spending is due to smoking.[9]

A study assessing patient understanding of medications prescribed during a hospital visit found that, 44 percent of patients believed they were receiving a different medication than they were prescribed, and 96 percent were unable to recall the name of at least one medication that they had been prescribed.[10]