Critical Illness Insurance Living Benefits Center

Statistics

How many Americans really are affected by a Critical Illness each year?

1,500,000 Americans will suffer a heart attack this year

It is THE single largest killer of American males AND females

About every 20 seconds, an American will suffer a heart attack, and about every minute someone will die.

Cardiovascular diseases caused 1 out of every 2.4 deaths (42.5% of all deaths)

Specifically, coronary heart disease caused 1 out of every 4.5 deaths in 1992

One in 6 men and 1 in 8 women age 45 and over have had a heart attack or stroke

More that 1/6 of all people killed by cardiovasular diseases are under age 65

In 1991, 38% of deaths from cardiovasular diseases occurred prematurely based on the average life expectancy of 75 years

5% of all heart attacks occur in people under age 40; and 45% occur in people under age 65

In 48% of men, and 63% of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease, there was no previous evidence of disease

27% of men, and 44% of women will die within one year after having a heart attack2

1,252,000 Americans will be diagnosed this year (carcinoma in-situ and basal cell skin cancer not included)

Cancer accounts for 1 out of every 5 deaths

The incidence of cancer rises with age, with most affected in mid-life and older

This year about 547,000 will die of cancer (nearly 1,500 per day)

Leading cause of death for children ages 1-14

1 in 2.2 males (44.84%) and 1 in 25 females (39.26%) will develop cancer at some point in their lives (or 40% of the population)

1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer and 1 in 6 men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives1

Stroke:

500,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year

Stroke accounts for 1 out of every 15 deaths

Stroke is the third largest cause of death, ranking behind diseases of the heart and cancer

On average, someone suffers a stroke in the United States every minute, and every 3.5 minutes someone dies of one

Approximately 3,080,000 stroke victims are alive today

28% of the people who suffer a stroke in a given year are under age 65

The incidence of stroke is about 19% higher for males than for females; for males under age 65, the difference is greater

1991 stroke mortality: males-56,714 deaths (39.5%); females-86,767 deaths (60.5%)

Angioplasty:

399,000 operations were performed in 19923

Coronary Bypass:

468,000 operations were performed in 19924

14,616 operations were performed between 1982-1990. This includes heart, lung, heart/lung, liver, or kidney transplants. (Bone marrow transplants not included.)5

Kidney Dialysis:

84,469 patients are currently diagnosed with kidney failure6
Incidentally, more deaths can be attributed to these conditions than ever before. In 1991, 73% of all deaths were caused by these three conditions:7

Cardiovascular Disease - 52.5% of all deaths

Cancer - 23.8% of all deaths

Stroke - 6.7% of all deaths

Although more people are afflicted with these conditions than ever before, more and more people are surviving....

Increase In Survival Rates/Decrease In Death Rates

Heart Attack:

1950, 44.8% survived at least 1 year following a heart attack

1990, 67% (73% of men, 67% of women) survived at least 1 year following a heart attack

1950, the death rate was 226.4 per 100,000

1991, the death rate was 108.0 per 100,000

The rate of survival has increased 49.4% since 1950

The death rate has declined 52.3% from 1950-19912

Cancer:

1930, less than 20% survived at least 5 years after diagnosis

1940, 25% survived at least 5 years after diagnosis

1960, 33% survived at least 5 years after diagnosis

1995, the 5-year relative survival rate was over 50%

1950, the death rate was 157 per 100,000

1990, the death rate was 174 per 100,0001
The death rate has increased 10.8% due to an incease in lung cancer. If lung cancer deaths were excluded, the cancer death rate would have declined 14% between 1950 and 1990

Stroke:

1950, 24.3% survived at least 1 year following a stroke

1990, 69% survived at least 1 year following a stroke. The percentage is higher for people under age 65

1950, the death rate was 88.8 per 100,000

1991, the death rate was 27.2 per 100,000

The survival rate has almost tripled (284%) since 1950

The death rate has declined 69.4% from 1950-19912
This year, an estimated 87.5% of stroke victims will survive and be discharged from the hospital6
Along with this increase in the survival rate comes many additional expenses. For example, cancer costs in 1994 totaled $104 billion. Amazingly, only $35 billion (34%) can be attributed to medical costs; $69 billion (66%) was spent on indirect costs1.

Industry experts and the medical community have indicated that this will soar to over 100 billion by the year 2000. There hasn't been 1.8 billion minutes since the birth of Christ. This is a big number!!

In addition, stroke is the leading cause of serious disability in the United States. According to the Framingham Heart Study, 31% of stroke survivors need help caring for themselves; 20% need help when walking; and 71% have an impaired vocational capacity when examined an average of seven years later. Similarly, about 2/3 of heart attack patients don't make a complete recovery. In fact, about 20% will be disabled with heart failure within six years after the attack.2

REFERENCES:
1Cancer Facts and Figures, 1995, American Cancer Society
2Heart and Stroke Facts, 1995 Statistical Supplement, American Heart Association

3Graves EJ National Hospital Discharge Survey; Annual Summary, 1992, National Center for Heath Statistics. Vital Health Stat 13(119), 1994

4 Health Care Book of Lists. Based on data collected from the nation's transplant centers by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and published in UNOS Annual Reports

5Health Care Book of Lists. Based on data compiled by the National Center For Health Statistics and published in "Annual Summary of Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths, United States, 1991"; Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol.40, No.13, 1992.

6The DRG Handbook: Comparative Clinical and Financial Standards, 1995, by HCIA Inc. and Ernst and Young LLP.

7Journal of the American Medical Association, December 21, 1994 - Vol.272, No.23.

8Framingham Studies

9Framingham Studies, 30 years later; Framingham Heart Care Institute

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