Nearly half of Minnesotans with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), sometimes called emphysema and chronic bronchitis, have not been diagnosed with the disease. The American Lung Association’s Bob Moffitt says it often goes undiagnosed until people are hospitalized or have a flair up.
Moffitt says smoking is the leading cause of COPD . Among adults with COPD, 40-percent are former smokers and 36 percent still smoke.
A new report from the state Department of Health found that Minnesota spent 1.9 billion or 31,100 dollars per-person on COPD care in 2012. This accounted for 7.1 percent of all health care spending that year. This report also found that COPD treatment costs also varied greatly between counties, with Freeborn County costs averaging about 25,600 per person per year and Stevens County costs averaging nearly 40,000.
Today is World COPD Day.
Tasha’s full interview with Bob Moffitt:
The Minnesota Department of health has updated information on MN Data including rates of hospitalizations and deaths. The update includes maps showing COPD rates in Minnesota counties and by age and zip code in the metro area.
Another MDH report, Chronic Conditions in Minnesota: New Estimates of Prevalence, Cost and Geographic Variation for Insured Minnesotans, 2012 (PDF),