It’s easy for people to say, “Health is wealth.” It’s a convenient platitude for those who’ve never had to choose between a doctor’s visit and paying the rent. But what happens when health is a debt you can’t pay, and wealth is a concept that exists on a different planet? A person starts making peace with the end.
This isn’t a dramatic statement; it’s a financial calculation. For someone with a chronic illness, their body is constantly breaking down. The pain might manifest as a constant ache, a feeling of fire in their nipples, or the unsettling bulge of a knot underneath a breast. For months, they might live with this pain, a constant, physical reminder of their failure to keep up. Why? Because a $60 a month insurance premium is a luxury, let alone the $125 specialist visit, the $320 medication, and the $60 laboratory fees. It’s a financial triage, and health always loses.
The Sunshine State’s Grim Math
Hollywood, Florida, is a beautiful place to live, if you can afford it. The cost of living here is 12% higher than the national average. Housing alone is 20% higher. A single person’s average monthly expenses are around $2,860.
Now, let’s look at the other side of the ledger. The median wage for workers in Broward County, where Hollywood is located, is about $1,480 per week as of early 2025. That’s a good number, right? Not for everyone. Many jobs in the service and gig economies pay far less. For those living on a shoestring, a chronic illness doesn’t just cut into savings; it eradicates the possibility of a stable life.
The Business of Breaking Down
For a small business owner without a car, their financial trap is even tighter. Every appointment, every client meeting, every trip to the post office is a logistical and financial hurdle. They must rely on ride-shares and public transportation, a hidden tax on their time and energy. A round trip can easily eat up $30-$50, not to mention the hours lost in transit. The idea of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is laughable when you’re chained to a bus route. When your business requires hauling supplies, equipment, or even just meeting clients, a lack of transportation is a constant, suffocating drag.
An Unpopular Opinion: Your Health Is Not a Right, It’s a Privilege
Here’s the truth that no one wants to admit: Healthcare is a product, not a right. And like any product, access is determined by your ability to pay. Ambetter health insurance, for example, offers various plans. The “Essential Care” plan, a bronze-level option, might have a low monthly premium, but the individual deductible can be as high as $7,500.
So, when a person is already behind, that cheap insurance is little more than a piece of paper. They’re still on the hook for those $125 specialist visits and $320 medication costs. The system is designed to keep a person in a cycle of debt and dependency. The sicker a person gets, the poorer they become. The poorer they become, the sicker they get.
This isn’t just a physical ache; it’s the pain of resignation. It’s the quiet understanding that for the chronically ill and the poor, living is an expensive, and often impossible, endeavor. Maybe, just maybe, making peace with death is the only rational response.
What are the average medical costs for common chronic diseases?
The financial burden of chronic diseases in the United States is substantial, and the costs can vary widely depending on the condition and its severity. A significant portion of the nation’s total healthcare spending is attributed to the treatment and management of these illnesses.
Here are some average annual medical costs for common chronic diseases:
- Diabetes: The estimated total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. was $412.9 billion in 2022. On average, a person with diabetes incurs annual medical expenditures of nearly $19,736, with approximately $12,022 of that amount directly attributable to the disease.
- Heart Disease: The total annual cost for treating cardiovascular disease in the U.S. is estimated at around $100 billion. A statistical brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that the mean annual cost per adult with heart disease was $4,900. However, the costs for specific conditions can be much higher; for example, a hospital stay for heart failure can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
- Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia: This is one of the costliest chronic diseases. The total cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias was an estimated $360 billion in 2024, projected to increase to nearly $1 trillion by 2050. The annual cost per person, including treatment and lost wages, has been estimated at over $48,701.
- Asthma: The total annual cost of asthma in the United States, including medical care, absenteeism, and mortality, was estimated at $81.9 billion. The average per-person medical cost was about $3,266 per year, with a significant portion going toward prescriptions. The cost can be much higher for people with severe asthma.
- Arthritis: In 2013, arthritis-related medical costs and earning losses were over $300 billion. A 2021 study found that healthcare costs for patients with knee osteoarthritis were $7,707 higher than for control groups.
What are the long-term financial impacts of these chronic diseases?
The long-term financial impacts of chronic diseases on individuals and families are devastating, often leading to a cycle of debt, lost income, and financial ruin. These impacts extend far beyond the direct medical costs.
The Direct and Indirect Costs
The financial burden of chronic diseases is multi-faceted. The direct costs include out-of-pocket expenses such as copays, deductibles, premiums, and the price of medications, treatments, and hospital stays. But the true long-term impact is often felt in the indirect costs that erode a person’s financial stability over time.
- Lost Income and Productivity: Chronic illness can lead to job loss, reduced work hours, and decreased productivity. For many, this means a significant and permanent drop in household income, making it impossible to keep up with expenses.
- Caregiver Costs: Family members often take on the role of unpaid caregivers, which can force them to reduce their own work hours or leave their jobs entirely, leading to a loss of a second income.
- Asset Depletion: To cover mounting medical bills, individuals and families are often forced to liquidate their savings, retirement funds, and other assets. This erases years of careful financial planning, leaving them with no safety net for the future.
The Path to Financial Ruin
The financial strain of a chronic disease can trigger a series of cascading events that lead to a full-blown financial crisis.
- Debt Accumulation: Medical debt is one of the leading causes of personal debt in the United States. Many people rely on credit cards, loans, or even mortgages to pay for treatments, leading to a build-up of high-interest debt that’s difficult to escape.
- Poor Credit and Bankruptcy: Studies show a direct correlation between the number of chronic conditions a person has and their risk of experiencing adverse financial outcomes, including low credit scores, debts sent to collections, and bankruptcy. An increasing number of personal bankruptcies are tied to a medical illness or injury.
- Worsening Health Outcomes: When faced with a choice between paying for basic needs and medical care, many people forgo or delay necessary treatments and medications. This leads to a vicious cycle where a person’s health deteriorates, leading to more expensive emergency care down the line, and further exacerbating their financial problems.
