Abstract 4369549: MEPS&the Money Trail: Mapping a Decade of Trends in Heart Failure Expenditures

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is an expensive condition to live with and treat. By the year 2030 it is estimated that the US will spend over $70 billion annually on the care of patients with HF. Examining spending trends is crucial to understand how the medical field can decrease costs while improving outcomes in patients with HF. The purpose of this analysis was to examine healthcare expenditure trends among patients with HF utilizing the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) over a ten-year time period. Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of 2012–2022 data from MEPS, including participants identified as having HF based on ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes. Individuals with missing data were excluded. Generalized linear models (gamma-log models accounting for sampling weights) were used to examine the association between survey year (exposure) and total healthcare expenditures, total prescription expenditures, total inpatient expenditures, total emergency department expenditures, and total outpatient expenditures (separate models for each outcome) among adults with HF, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, income level, and comorbidity burden. Results: Expenditures of a population estimate of 14,078,878 adults with HF, with 48.5% being male. In this population the average age is 65, 43% have a diabetes diagnosis and 31% have an MI diagnosis. The average total healthcare expenditure for the population was $30,031 ± $41,762. There was a statistically significant rise in total healthcare, emergency department, and inpatient expenditures between 2016-2018 followed by a steady decrease between 2018 and 2022. Total prescription and outpatient expenditures increased linearly between 2012 and 2022. Conclusion: Over the past decade, spending patterns for patients with HF have shifted, with total, inpatient, and emergency department expenditures peaking mid-decade before declining, while prescription and outpatient costs continued to rise steadily. These findings highlight the evolving landscape of HF care and underscore the need for targeted interventions to optimize resource use while maintaining high-quality outcomes.