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The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is an internationally-recognized organization of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs: chronic disease Resources RESOURCES > DEFINING "UNMET MEDICAL NEED" Defining "Unmet Medical Need" Patients, people with disabilities, and their caregivers want their experiences and outcomes that matter to them to be considered when the government or other payers make decisions about their treatments. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) directs the U.S. Federal government to establish the price for some of the highest selling drugs in the Medicare program based on a number of factors including whether the drug serves an “unmet medical need” relative to other therapeutic options. This report highlights the perspectives of the patient community on “unmet medical needs” based on survey research and public comments from patient advocacy groups and compares those findings to the government’s proposed approach to consider unmet medical needs under the IRA. WHITE PAPER Defining "Unmet Medical Need" in the Inflation Reduction Act for the Maximum Fair Price Reflecting Patient Input

Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease is a group of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts working to advance awareness and action on antimicrobial resistance. PFCD in the States As lawmakers continuously review changes to our health care system, it is incumbent upon leaders on both sides of the aisle to acknowledge the single largest driver of health care spending – chronic disease – and present a concrete plan for addressing this human and economic threat. Ninety cents of every health care dollar spent is spent on treating people with chronic disease. Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability. One in two Americans lives with at least one chronic condition and almost three in four older Americans have one or more than one chronic condition. The good news is that most chronic diseases are preventable or manageable. With a health care system that better detects, treats, and manages chronic disease, we can change our nation’s health care story, improve the lives of millions of Americans, and strengthen our economy by tackling chronic disease. Join us in the #Fight4Health and demand leadership on the issue from all our policymakers. PFCD worked with GlobalData on a microsimulation analysis to assess chronic disease trends in the U.S. and across the states. The fact sheet data highlights averages of annual outcomes from 2025-2039. For more information about the study and methodology, read the technical document . U.S. Chronic Disease Fact Sheet U.S. Childhood Health Fact Sheet U.S. Health Equity Fact Sheet

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is an internationally-recognized organization of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs: chronic disease Resources RESOURCES > NATIONAL PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS STRATEGY STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES National Pandemic Preparedness Strategy Statement of Principles To anticipate and prepare for future pandemics, the United States needs to develop an effective National Pandemic Preparedness Strategy (NPPS) focused not only on the infectious pathogen, but also resulting, collateral health care challenges we can anticipate. National health emergencies threaten everyone, but pose a particularly acute danger to those with chronic and underlying conditions and those facing barriers to accessing care and other health disparities. BACKGROUND National Pandemic Preparedness Strategy Statement of Principles

Chronic conditions are the primary driver of rising U.S. health care spending across Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, a new study from the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) detailed last week. Costs are highly concentrated among patients living with three or more chronic conditions, and obesity plays a central role . PFCD Chair Kenneth Thorpe, PhD., and Peter Joski authored the new research report , which is particularly relevant leading up to two House hearings this Thursday. If chronic disease is the cost driver, insurance companies might be the engine. Five CEOs from large insurance companies are scheduled to meet first with the Committee on Energy and Commerce and then the Committee on Ways and Means. The largest U.S. insurance companies have vertically integrated into health care conglomerates that repeatedly prioritize profits over patients. This has led to a system that struggles to deliver timely, affordable treatment to Americans. About 60% of U.S adults live with at least one chronic condition, and 20% have multiple. The study uncovered how increased spending is linked to an increase in the number of patients with multiple chronic conditions, highlighting how per-person plan spending for privately insured patients with three or more chronic conditions rose 31% from 2011 to 2022. These patients comprise 27% of private-insurance patients but nearly 60% of category spending. In 2022, chronic disease accounted for 93% of Medicare spending and 82% of Medicaid spending. Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week that national health expenditures increased by 7.2% in 2024 , following a 7.2% surge in 2023. At $5.3 trillion, health care consumed a staggering 18% share of GDP in 2024. About four in 10 American adults have obesity. Among Medicaid beneficiaries managing four or more chronic conditions, more than half have obesity. The research makes clear that slowing unsustainable spending growth requires preventing the onset and progression of chronic disease, addressing obesity as a chronic illness, and improving care coordination. Meanwhile, many health experts observe an insurance marketplace that appears to be moving in the opposite direction. Rather than support prevention and better disease management, insurers are increasingly focused on maximizing profits through evolving formulary and utilization management practices that consolidate market power and slow access to necessary care. Insurers now own pharmacy benefit managers, provider groups, group purchasing organizations, and health systems. UnitedHealthcare alone operates nearly 2,700 subsidiaries . Insurance decision-making has shifted from patient-centered to business-centered. Utilization management, prior authorization requirements, and formulary restrictions routinely delay or deny medically necessary care. Rather than staying focused on delivering life-altering treatment, physicians are forced to navigate step therapy limitations, insurance denials, and other red tape. This leaves chronic disease patients waiting for approvals while their health deteriorates, ultimately leading to costly medical care and preventable hospitalizations. Congressional lawmakers should consider how current insurance practices are fueling increased costs throughout the health care system by ignoring the patients themselves and how they access the treatments and resources their physician recommends.

January 14, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released a new research report, “ The Association of Obesity and Chronic Conditions Treated as it Relates to the Growth in Health Care Spending by Source of Insurance, 2011–2022 ,”  by PFCD Chair Kenneth E. Thorpe and Peter J. Joski. The report finds that the increasing prevalence of obesity and multiple chronic conditions is the dominant force behind rising health care spending across Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Health care spending is increasingly concentrated among a small share of patients with complex, obesity-related illnesses. The report highlights that obesity, now affecting four in 10 U.S. adults, plays a central role in this trend. Obesity rates increased across all insurance types and chronic disease categories from 2011 to 2022, coinciding with rapid spending growth among patients managing multiple conditions. Among privately insured individuals with three chronic conditions, per-person spending rose 31% over the study period, while just 27% of patients now account for nearly 60% of private insurance spending. Among Medicaid beneficiaries with 4+ chronic conditions, 51.2% also had obesity. Thorpe’s analysis finds that policy approaches focused on limiting coverage, increasing reimbursement barriers, or imposing blunt price controls do not prevent disease or slow long-term cost growth. Instead, meaningful cost containment requires policies that reduce the burden of chronic disease itself, by preventing onset, slowing progression, and addressing obesity as a root cause across populations and insurance programs. “Our analysis shows that chronic disease, particularly obesity-related conditions, is now the dominant driver of U.S. health care spending growth, with the vast majority of new Medicare and Medicaid dollars going to patients managing multiple chronic conditions. These findings make clear that slowing cost growth will require sustained investments in prevention and better chronic disease management, not blunt price controls, so we can improve outcomes while reducing the long-term cost burden on patients and the health system,” said PFCD’s Ken Thorpe. The full paper can be found HERE , and a related one pager HERE . ### The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD)  is an internationally-recognized organization of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs: chronic disease.

December 19, 2025 (WASHINGTON, D.C.) The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) released the following statement today in response to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement of mandatory demonstration projects that would implement Most Favored Nation (MFN) drug pricing in Medicare Parts B and D: “PFCD remains opposed to a MFN approach to drug price-setting that would import foreign price controls, threaten patient access, pose ethical concerns, stifle U.S. medical innovation, and adopt discriminatory metrics of value, despite federal law prohibiting the use of such metrics in Medicare. The nearly one in three Americans living with two or more chronic conditions rely on timely access to needed therapies. By tying prices to external benchmarks, these MFN models threaten to reduce the availability of key therapies, create sudden shifts in medical coverage, and introduce uncertainty that disrupts long-standing care routines. These effects are especially concerning for individuals who depend on consistent, long-term treatment plans to manage complex conditions. “While such policies claim to be aimed at lowering costs, they ultimately hinder patient-centered care and outcomes for the 130 million Americans with multiple chronic conditions by limiting therapeutic options and delaying access to treatments and care. Instead, policymakers should keep patient access and outcomes at the core of any solutions and focus instead on reining in pharmacy benefit managers and demanding greater transparency around rising premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance. “No matter how appealing the promise, it is not possible to impose foreign price controls and continue to maintain U.S. leadership in innovation and patient access to cutting-edge medical advances.”