The link between hunger and health care costs

According to a recent study, households that have a tough time putting food on the table face another big challenge. In addition to being food insecure, they have higher health care costs.

“We already know that adults in households that are food insecure have more negative health outcomes than adults in food-secure households,” said University of Illinois economist Craig Gundersen. “However, the cost of the negative health outcomes associated with food insecurity were unknown. This study allows us to quantify these additional costs.”

 Gundersen said the total health care costs were higher for food-insecure adults across numerous categories. These included inpatient hospitalization, emergency room visits, physician services, same-day surgeries, home health-care services, and prescription drugs. In total, these costs rose with increasing severity of household food insecurity.

Read the full article in Agweek...