An average of $334 billion per year was spent across all payers to treat key diet-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and breast and colon cancers, among American adults aged 18 years and older in 2021 and 2022. The estimate is based on an analysis of data reported to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Component (MEPS-HC). Over the two-year analysis period, annual expenditures to treat cardiovascular disease averaged $166 billion, annual expenditures to treat diabetes averaged $151 billion, and annual expenditures to treat breast and colorectal cancer averaged $24 billion.
Medicare covered about half of the $334 billion spent on care for diet-related chronic conditions, at $153 billion. Private insurance covered $100 billion. Medicaid covered $43 billion. Consumers covered $22 billion out-of-pocket. Other federal payers covered $13 billion, and other non-federal payers covered $3 billion.
The MEPS-HC is a national survey of the civilian, non-institutionalized population in the United States. It collects detailed information on health care utilization and expenditures, health insurance, and health status, as well as a wide variety of social, demographic, and economic characteristics. It is cosponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Center for Health Statistics.
For this analysis on spending for diet-related chronic health conditions, the analysts for AHRQ reviewed publicly available data regarding medical conditions, condition-event links, office-based medical provider organization visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, prescribed medicines, hospital inpatient stays, home health, and age. For the MEPS-HC, the conditions are self-reported by adult household respondents aged 18 years and older; the conditions are not independently verified by medical professionals.
On average, the annual per-person cost to treat major diet-related conditions per adult with such conditions was $3,974. In 2021 and 2022, the average yearly cost was $2,176 for cardiovascular disease treatment, $5,925 for diabetes treatment among those with diabetes, and $9,202 for breast or colorectal cancer treatment among those with either cancer.
During the analysis period, an average of 84.1 million adults per year received treatment for major diet-related health conditions. Of these, 76.4 million were treated for cardiovascular issues, including hypertension, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, cardiac dysrhythmias, or stroke. Additionally, 25.4 million were treated for diabetes, and 2.6 million received treatment for breast or colorectal cancer. People could be treated for more than one diet-related condition.
These findings were presented in Expenditures For Key Diet-Related Health Conditions, 2021-2022, by AHRQ. The goal was to estimate health expenditures for key groups of diet-related health conditions.
For more information, contact: Office of Communications, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857; Email: media@ahrq.hhs.gov; Website: https://www.ahrq.gov/
August 2025 00US25EUA0023