A new study suggests the State of Iowa could save tens-of-thousands of lives and billions of dollars if policy makers increased investment in efforts to reduce chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and arthritis. Candace DeMatteis is the policy director for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, which commissioned the research.
More than 190 million Americans, or about 59 percent of the population, are affected by one or more chronic diseases. DeMatteis says without change, the number of people with three or more chronic diseases is expected to increase to 83 million by 2030, and overall costs will accumulate to more than $42 trillion.
In 2015, 1.8 million Iowans had at least one chronic disease
