Rising temperatures aren’t only an inconvenience, they’re also driving up health care costs

The summer heat is here. It’s not only uncomfortable, it’s also costing us more money. According to a new report from the public policy research group Center for American Progress, the U.S. is expected to spend $1 billion on health care costs this summer due to scorching temperatures.

As our planet gets hotter, cardiovascular, kidney and respiratory disease hospitalizations are skyrocketing, especially among people who don’t have access to air conditioning and green spaces. The report estimates 235,000 ER visits and 56,000 hospital admissions this summer alone.

Low-income households may suffer the most.

“People who live in nice neighborhoods, who have air-conditioned homes and tree-lined streets with plenty of shade. [They] are protected from the heat in a way that doesn’t occur in a different part of town where there’s not much shade and people are less likely to either have air conditioning and fans or to have the resources to pay the electrical bills,” said Steven Woolf, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is also a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and a co-author of the report.

Local and state governments are working to stepup their game and make neighborhoods more resilient to the heat by using heat-reflecting materials, passing laws to assist low-income residents with power bills and air conditioning units, and planting more trees to increase shade.

The hot tip this summer: Stay hydrated, stay where it’s cool, dress appropriately and keep in touch with your loved ones to make sure they’re staying cool, too.

Is the increasing heat affecting your health care costs? Share your story with us here.