Osteoporosis-related fractures could cost Medicaid more than $6 billion in hospital costs

A new report from the National Osteoporosis Foundation finds that Americans covered by Medicare suffered more than 2 million fractures due to osteoporosis in 2015, a figure the report claims was responsible for more hospitalizations than heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer combined. Here’s more: 

• Fracture type and trends: 40% of all the fractures were hip and spine fractures, and female Medicare patients had nearly 80% higher rates of osteoporotic fractures than males.   
• Secondary fractures: Those with osteoporosis are at risk for having recurrent fractures, and some 307,000 people suffered such fractures in 2015. The additional cost to Medicare from hospitalizations for these fractures was over $6 billion. 
• Screening: Only 9% of women who suffered an osteoporotic fracture had been screened for bone mineral density in the six months after their injury.