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Thread: Federal government spending on care?

  1. #1

    Federal government spending on care?

    Does anyone know where to look or how much the federal government spends a year caring for people with spinal cord injuries? I did a little research and cannot really come up with a clear number and didn't know if anybody here has an idea where I should look?
    Today is one day closer to The Cure

  2. #2
    I don't think that you will be able to clearly pull that out from any data. You can look at the Model Systems data, but that will only give you the costs for those centers participating in that program. I am sure that the VA has similar data. However, that is not nearly representative of the total.
    Sorry I can not be of more help.

  3. #3
    You might contact the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation and see if they have this data. United Spinal Association (which merged with NSCIA) may also have some information. For Veterans, you could contact the national office of the PVA to get that information.


  4. #4
    Far too much, same in canada!!! Let's cure it

  5. #5
    The money spent by the federal government on care could reasonably be approximated by finding the mean cost of caring for people with SCI, the number of people w/ SCI times the percentage of people w/ SCI who are unemployed. It is approximate and has the following assumptions

    - people who aren't employed get their care through medicare
    - the the total cost to the government for people w/ SCI is only medical costs (cities/states/federal do spend on ADA related things like curb cutouts, elevators on public transport but those are for all disabilities not just SCI).
    - that the average is a reasonable estimate of the cost. If there is a small sample of people whose cost is 10X of most people cost then you might be better off with the median than the mean.

    - With obamacare the first assumption may be skewed where people are employed but at a level where their health care is subsidized through obamacare. So maybe assume 100% for unemployed people and 33% for employed people.
    Last edited by t8burst; 10-30-2015 at 09:48 PM. Reason: mean/median

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