A study conducted by RTI International, funded by CMS, and published in Public Health Reports, found that over 25 percent of adult health care spending was associated with disability in 2006.  The study found that disability-associated health care spending in 2006, which includes spending on physical and mental disabilities, totaled $397.8 billion.  The report found that the costs were largely borne by the public sector, especially Medicaid.  The report also provides state-level data on disability spending.

Anderson, et. al. (2010). Estimates of state-level health-care expenditures associated with disability.  Public Health Reports 125(1): 44-52. 

Authors: Wayne L., Anderson, Brian S. Armour, Eric A. Finkelstein, Joshua M. Wiener.

For more information: http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?objectid=45D63499-5056-B155-2CAEF328512CD707