Report: health care costs for chronic conditions vary even by zip codes

Grand Valley researchers said health care costs for people with chronic conditions, like diabetes or coronary artery disease, are higher in areas north and southwest of Grand Rapids.

Seidman College of Business economics faculty members Kevin Callison and Leslie Muller released the 2016 Health Check report during the seventh annual health care summit hosted by Grand Valley on January 8 at the Eberhard Center. The report identifies health-related trends and issues facing Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon and Allegan (KOMA) counties.

With data provided by Blue Care Network, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Priority Health, researchers analyzed expenses for patients diagnosed with asthma, coronary artery disease, depression, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and low back pain.

Researchers found expenditures for all conditions increased in West Michigan compared to the previous year, but generally remain lower in the Grand Rapids area than in the Detroit region. However, data showed higher expenditures for coronary artery disease in KOMA than in Detroit; and certain zip codes in areas north and southwest of Grand Rapids — parts of Newaygo, southern Allegan and Van Buren counties — reported consistently higher expenditures for nearly all chronic diseases.

Callison said it's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the expenditure increases. Some potential explanations include a growing reliance on high-cost technologies, changing market structures in the hospital and insurance sectors, and price increases due to overall medical inflation.

For the second year, researchers conducted a survey of Michigan businesses and their health insurance offerings in light of the Affordable Care Act. For the most part, firms have neither increased nor decreased their health insurance offerings in the last year and a large majority continue to offer this benefit. Businesses are, however, changing prescription coverage and passing along costs to employees in the form of higher deductibles and co-pays, with some considering switching to private exchanges to control costs. 

New to the report this year was a community survey, asking residents about health insurance coverage and access to health care.

Muller said one concern with the Medicaid expansion was that an influx of new Medicaid patients would make it more difficult to find a primary care physician. She found that the vast majority of patients, 76 percent, saw no difference in the ability to find a primary care physician, while 14 percent said it had actually gotten easier. She also found that more than two-thirds of patients saw no change in the time spent in the waiting room and the time spent with their physician.

The report is posted online, click here.

Researchers also found:

• Aging population: There are more people ages 45-64 than people who are 20-34 and 35-44.

• Obese/overweight: The obesity rate fell from 32.8 percent in 2013 to 29.8 percent in 2014; the overweight population rose in KOMA by 1.3 percent.

• Unhealthy behaviors: Rates for binge drinking and smoking fell in KOMA from 2013, but the percentage of people with little physical activity rose.

Jean Nagelkerk, vice provost for Health, said the report is meant to inform health care policy and decisions in West Michigan. "With our region’s continued commitment of substantial resources for health care delivery and health science research, we are in the unique position to collaboratively utilize the resources available to effectively influence positive changes in our community," she said.