The direct cost of treating skin diseases in the United States was almost $75 billion in 2013, according to a report on the burden of skin disease from the American Academy of Dermatology.
For the nearly 85 million Americans who were seen by a physician for a skin disease in 2013, about $45.9 billion was spent on medical costs such as office visits, procedures, and tests; $15 billion was spent on prescription drugs; and $4.1 billion went for vaccines and skin cancer screening. Another $10 billion was spent on OTC products, the AAD’s Burden of Skin Disease Work Group reported (J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017 Feb 24. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2016.12.043).
The per-capita cost of skin disease in 2013 was $213, compared with $950 per person for cardiovascular disease, $785 for diabetes, and $147 for end-stage renal disease, they noted.
In discussing the future burden of skin disease, the work group noted that the aging U.S. population and “the increased costs of currently in-use and newly developed dermatologic treatment options [need] to be addressed by an appropriate increase in dermatologic care providers.”