On one level, it's almost impossible to put a dollar figure on lives shattered by gun violence or to try to measure the pain of having a loved one killed or seriously injured, reports NPR.
But researchers of two new studies using federal
health care and hospital data underscore that the repercussions from firearm
deaths and injuries are deeper, wider and far costlier than previously known.
In a new study published in
the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Zirui Song and colleagues found a
four-fold increase in health care spending as a direct result of a non-fatal
firearm injury.
Dr. Song, an Associate Professor of Health Care
Policy and Medicine at Harvard Medical School, also charts a substantial
increase in other health disorders that undermine a person's health and
well-being.
"In the first year after a non-fatal firearm
injury, survivors experienced a 40% increase in physical pain or other forms of
pain syndromes; a 50% increase in psychiatric disorders; and an 85% increase in
substance use disorders," Dr. Song says, while on break from his rounds at
Massachusetts General Hospital, where he practices internal medicine. He adds
more research is needed as to exactly why those addiction numbers and other
disorders go up so dramatically.
And those effects aren't just on those injured by
bullets. The study shows family members of survivors, too, can carry massive
physical and mental burdens.
"Family members on average, including parents,
siblings and children, experienced a 12% increase in psychiatric
disorders," he says.
The study is based largely on health care claims data, not hospital survey or discharge data. Dr. Song says that allows for a more detailed look at spending than previous studies based on other types of data.
"There is really an undercurrent of forgotten
survivors whose own health and economic conditions are affected quite profoundly,
even though they were lucky enough to survive," he tells NPR.
And the financial burden for this fallout is mostly
landing on the shoulders of taxpayers and employees: Dr. Song's study shows 96%
of the increase in health care spending on firearm injuries is shouldered by
Medicare and U.S. employers.
"In direct costs alone, it's $2.5 billion in health care spending in the first year after non-fatal firearm injuries," he says. "This number is much larger if you include indirect costs of lost wages or productivity."
A study out
this week by Everytown for Gun Safety delves into that larger picture
and looks at a wide range of direct and indirect costs from all gun violence in
America, fatal as well as gun injuries.
"This epidemic is costing our nation $557
billion annually," says Sarah Burd-Sharps, research director at the gun
control advocacy group. "Looking at the economic consequence offers a
wider lens for understanding just how extensive — and expensive — this crisis
is."
The $557 billion figure seems astonishing. But the
group says it looks at myriad direct costs associated with gun violence.
Researcher Burd-Sharps notes the figures include immediate costs of a shooting,
such as the police response, investigations and ambulance services all the way
to the long-term health care costs. The analysis also includes estimates for a
victims' lost earnings, costs incurred by the criminal justice system, the
price of mental health care and more.
"Whenever you're costing these kind of
injuries, you have to take into consideration that quality of life amount,
which is admittedly quite large," she says.
In fact, Burd-Sharps believes the true annual figure
is even higher than the estimate in the report that society loses some $1.34
billion every day for pain and suffering related to all victims of gun
violence.
"This is honestly a very conservative estimate," she says. "It covers directly measurable costs. It doesn't cover things like the trauma of children who don't want to return their school. The impact on businesses or on property, you know, values and taxes. It doesn't cover any of those wider reverberations."
Burd-Sharps is scheduled
to testify before two Congressional committees this week on the
economic impact of gun violence.
She says she'll tell lawmakers the group is grateful
for their recent federal actions on guns, which included incentives for states
to pass "red flag'' laws, which temporarily remove a weapon from a person
deemed dangerous, and expanded background checks for those between of the ages
of 18 and 21 who wish to buy a gun.
But Burd-Sharps says she'll also tell the Congress
members that "much more is needed to fight this epidemic."
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