Health Inequality Costs

Abstract

In this issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Fliegner and colleagues1 investigate the link between socioeconomic deprivation and expenditure for admissions for isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery. By linking clinical registry data from 8728 coronary artery bypass graft procedures during a 7-year period to Medicare fee-for-service data, they find that spending is higher for socioeconomically deprived patients. This is not surprising as socioeconomic deprivation is linked to higher rates of smoking, excess alcohol consumption, poor diet and obesity—all risk factors of many illnesses and leading causes of death worldwide, including comorbidities that make care more expensive.