Why is chronic illness protection important?

• A chronic disease is a condition lasting three months or longer. It can be treated, but it cannot be cured.
• About 40 million Americans are limited in their usual activities due to one or more chronic health conditions.¹
• Sadly, Indiana has higher rates of chronic diseases than the national median.
• In 2010, almost 50% of Hoosier adults reported having a history of heart disease, stroke, cancer or chronic lower respiratory disease, like asthma.²
• Other chronic conditions include Alzheimer’s, dementia, kidney disease, diabetes, arthritis and COPD.

1. Summary Health Statistics for the U.S. Population. U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. Series 10, Number 259. December 2013. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/se ries/sr_10/sr10_259.pdf.
2. Indiana State Department of Health. Chronic Disease and Injury in Indiana. 2012.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Multiple Chronic Conditions—A Strategic Framework: Optimum Health and Quality of Life for Individuals with Multiple Chronic Conditions. Washington, DC. 2010. Accessed July 26, 2018.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Leading causes of death and numbers of deaths, by sex, race, and Hispanic origin: United States, 1980 and 2014 (Table 19). Health, United States, 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2015/019.pdf. Accessed July 26, 2018.
5. Gerteis J., Izrael D., Deitz D., LeRoy L, Ricciardi R., Miller T., Basu J. Multiple Chronic Conditions Chartbook. AHRQ Publications No, Q14-0038. Rockville, MD.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Power of Prevention. 2009. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/pdf/2009-Power-of-Prevention.pdf. Accessed July 26, 2018.
7. National Alliance for Caregiving (www.caregiving.org) and AARP (www.aarp.org). Caregiving in the U.S. 2015 Report.
8. Johns Hopkins University. Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care. December 2002. http://www.patientnavigatortraining.org/course2/documents/making_the_case.pdf