Wayne County (Detroit) — Economic Impact

Scope note. The AI & digital-health interventions below are illustrative "low-hanging fruit" — a small, high-feasibility sample chosen to demonstrate planning-grade ROI. They are not exhaustive or prescriptive, and every figure is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed return.

Economic burden by condition — Human-Capital method

Annual productivity loss = DALYs × $62,000 Michigan GDP per capita

Condition	DALYs/yr	HC burden/yr	Share
CVD (heart disease)	144,104	$8.93B	32.6%
Cancer	99,641	$6.18B	22.5%
Substance use	76,762	$4.76B	17.4%
COPD	33,850	$2.10B	7.7%
Mental health	32,944	$2.04B	7.4%
Stroke	32,244	$2.00B	7.3%
Diabetes	22,706	$1.41B	5.1%
Total	442,251	$27.4B	100%

Each averted DALY ≈ $62,000 of recovered productivity — the arithmetic basis for grant, employer, and health-system partnerships. VSL burden ($134B) is the willingness-to-pay standard used in federal cost-benefit analysis (HHS/EPA/DOT) and captures mortality only.

Illustrative intervention ROI

Planning-grade "low-hanging fruit" for a Detroit-profile county (CVD-led, large overdose burden)

Cardiovascular risk management at scale

$8.93B pool

CVD is a third of the burden (5,531 deaths/yr). AI-supported hypertension control + statin adherence programs target the single largest DALY pool.

Overdose prevention (naloxone + MOUD)

$4.76B pool

1,107 substance-use deaths/yr — the defining crisis. A 10% YLL reduction ≈ $476M/yr in averted productivity loss.

Community cancer screening equity

$6.18B pool

Detroit cancer mortality runs above Ann Arbor's. Navigation + AI-triaged screening reminders close detection gaps in underserved areas.

Turn this burden profile into a funded plan

Lakes Linked builds county-specific, grant-ready burden analyses and intervention ROI models.

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