Societal cost of rheumatoid arthritis patients in the US.

AbstractObjective:To estimate comprehensive cost of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to society and individual stakeholders, including patients/employees, employers, family members/caregivers, and government.Research design and methods:Administrative claims databases covering privately insured and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the US were used to compute the excess payer and beneficiary-paid costs per patient with RA compared with matched controls. Similarly, per-person excess costs for caregivers and uninsured patients with RA were estimated. Costs were estimated for other burdens, including costs of work-loss to employers, adaptations to home and work environments, lost on-the-job productivity, informal and hired care/household help, and job turnover costs. Intangible costs associated with quality-of-life deterioration were estimated based on legal system jury awards, whereas costs for premature mortality were based on lifetime earnings data. Per-capita cost estimates were weighted by the rel...