This article examines national health spending across an all-inclusive set of diagnostic categories and medical conditions between 1996 and 2006, focusing on trends in cost of care per case and treated prevalence—or, the number of people receiving treatment for a particular condition.  It also presents initial estimates of the impact of clinical prevalence on overall spending.

The study was published in the journal Health Affairs and authored by Charles Roehrig, director of the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at the Altarum Institute, and David Rousseau, a vice president and executive director of Health Policy Media & Technology at the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

 Article (free access until 9/9/2012)