Health care utilization and expenditures for children with autism: data from U.S. national samples.
U.S. kids with autism bring about $4–6 k extra medical cost per year—factor this into every budget and care plan.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Reyer et al. (2006) pulled two big U.S. health surveys.
They compared kids with autism to kids without.
They counted doctor visits, drugs, and total dollars.
What they found
Kids with autism had 7 times higher yearly bills.
Average cost was $6,132 versus $860 for other kids.
They also used more medicines and longer visits.
How this fits with other research
Bush et al. (2021) is the successor study. It updated the 2006 numbers to 2018 dollars and found yearly added costs of $4–5.6 k. The price tag looks smaller, but inflation and wider case-finding explain the drop.
Hamama et al. (2021) extends the story to teens and young adults. Transition-age youth with autism still top the cost chart, especially for mental-health and primary-care visits.
Fahmie et al. (2013) zooms in on kids with both autism and anxiety. Their societal cost jumps to €17,380, four times the price for anxious kids without autism.
Why it matters
When you write treatment plans or fight for funding, use these hard numbers. Expect roughly $4–6 k extra medical cost per child each year. Build bigger budgets, schedule more care-coordination time, and plan for frequent medication reviews.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Little is known about the use of medical services by children who have autism (ASD). Provide nationally representative data for health service utilization and expenditures of children with ASD. Cross-sectional survey using the Medical Expenditure Panel (MEPS), and National (Hospital) Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (N(H)AMCS). A total of 80 children with ASD were identified from N(H)AMCS (weighted sample size (wss) 186,281), and 31 (wss 340,158) from MEPS. They had more outpatient visits, physician visits, and medications prescribed than children in general. They spent more time during physician visits than other children. Annual expenses for children with autism spectrum disorder (6,132 dollars) were more than for other children (860 dollars). Children with ASD have a substantial burden of medical illness.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2006 · doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0119-9