Heart issues hit employers' bottom lines, study finds

Employers lose thousands of dollars in productivity when an employee experiences heart problems, according to a new study.

Robert Page, an associate professor with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, found that lost productivity costs from acute coronary syndrome range from about $7,943 for short-term disability claims to about $52,473 for long-term ones.

The report argued that heart problems should be considered a chronic health condition alongside diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. 

Page and other researchers looked at 37,000 short- and long-term disability claims related to acute coronary syndrome, in which coronary arteries are blocked, and concluded that the condition can be "very disabling" for both employees and employers.

"Acute coronary syndrome is not particularly viewed as a chronic severely disabling condition, but it really is and it should be treated as such," Page told Bloomberg in an interview.

Acute coronary syndrome costs Americans about $150 billion every year, including between $2,000 and $20,000 in lost wages per victim, Page said.

His report recommended that employers invest in preventative measures to reduce the risk of employee heart problems.

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