November 2016 Welcome to Concussion Season Fall means football, and that brings the start of concussion season. And like the football flying off the hands of the quarterback, the number of people diagnosed with concussions is soaring. Overall, the number of people diagnosed with concussions grew 40 percent from 2010 to 2015. The most dramatic uptick in concussion diagnoses in that time period was for patients ages 10 through 19. For them, concussion diagnoses jumped 70 percent. These significant numbers are reported in a Health of America report released by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association last week. The report analyzed data from almost a million claims of Blue Cross and Blue Shield members across the U.S. The spike in diagnosis rates is likely due to growing awareness of the health dangers of concussions. In addition, state laws were passed to protect student athletes during that time. For NM – Insufficient medical claims data is available for an analysis. |