UrineSense refers to a “$3.5T chronic disease spend” as a rounded, conservative shorthand. Below are primary sources showing that major U.S. agencies and research groups place the annual burden of chronic disease and related health care spending in the multi-trillion-dollar range.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic disease program overviews.
CDC reports that chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States and the leading drivers of roughly trillions of dollars in annual health-care costs.
See CDC’s summaries on chronic diseases and the economic burden of preventing and managing them: they describe how heart disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and other chronic conditions account for the vast majority of U.S. health-care spending.
United for Medical Research and related NIH-focused advocacy materials.
One widely cited analysis notes that “each year, chronic diseases cost the U.S. around $3.7 trillion” when health-care spending and lost productivity are combined.
This figure is used to show how much of the U.S. economy is absorbed by chronic conditions—and how prevention and earlier detection could reduce that burden.
Different reputable sources frame the burden slightly differently:
In our messaging, “$3.5T chronic disease spend” is a rounded, conservative way of referring to this multi-trillion-dollar burden. The exact number varies by year and methodology, but the magnitude is clear: chronic diseases consume a very large share of U.S. health resources and economic output.
