Silver Book Fact
The total direct and indirect cost of CVD and stroke in the United States for 2008 is estimated at $448.5 billion. This figure includes health expenditures (direct costs, which include the cost of physicians and other professionals, hospital and nursing home services, medications, home health care, and other medical durables) and lost productivity resulting
from morbidity and mortality (indirect costs).
Rosamond W, Flegal K, Furie K, Go A, et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics- 2008 Update. Circulation. 2008; 117. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/short/117/4/e25