Scientific Research on the Impact of Transcendental

Meditation® Program and the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health on Medical Expenses

By Robert E. Herron, Ph.D.*

® Transcendental Meditation and TM are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and used under sublicense or with permission.

* Dr. Herron is an expert on medical care costs, with many publications in the field. He is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy. His new book, New Knowledge for New Results: A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Skyrocketing Medical Costs isavailable at Amazon.Com.

Mean Annual Total Per Capita Payments to Physicians for Treating Study Participants

Data are in constant 1992 Canadian dollars. This chart shows the 10% trimmed mean. P-value indicates the significance of the comparison of annual rates of change between groups after TM commenced. Data Source: R.E. Herron, S.L. Hillis. The impact of the Transcendental Meditation program on government payments to physicians in Quebec: An update American Journal of Health Promotion 2000; 14(5): 284–291.

$100

$110

$120

$130

$140

$150

$160

$170

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Years

NonTM

TM Practice Commenced

n = 1134

TMn = 1134

P = .00016

Mean Annual Percentage Change in Total Payments to Physicians for Treating Subjects Over Six Years

There was a mean 14% annual difference between the groups after TM practice started. Data are in 1992 Canadian dollars. P-value indicates the significance of the comparison of annual rates of change between groups after TM practice started. Source: R. Herron, S. Hillis. The impact of the Transcendental Meditation program on government payments to physicians in Quebec: An update American Journal of Health Promotion 2000; 14(5): 284–291.

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

TM

Non-TM

An

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Mean

Paym

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n = 1418

n = 1418

P = .0017

Mean Annual Total Per Capita Physician Expenses of People Over Age 65 in Canada

$165

$185

$205

$225

$245

$265

$285

$305

$325

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Years

TM

NonTM

TM Started

n = 159

n = 159

P = .0001

Data are in constant 1992 Canadian dollars. This chart shows the 1% trimmed mean. P-value indicates the significance of the comparison of annual rates of change between groups after TM started. Source: R.E. Herron, K. Cavanaugh. Can the Transcendental Meditation program reduce the medical expenditures of older people? A longitudinal cost reduction study in Canada Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2005; 17: 415–442.

Percentiles of Annual Per Capita Payments for Physicians’ Services Before and After Participants Started TM Program

Data are in constant 1992 Canadian dollars; 1418 subjects in the NonTM group and 1418 participants in the TM group. Data Source: R. Herron, S. Hillis. The impact of the Transcendental Meditation program on government payments to physicians in Quebec: An update American Journal of Health Promotion 2000; 14(5): 284–291.

$125

$175

$225

$275

$325

$375

$425

$475

$525

$575

Pre 1 Pre 2 Pre 3 Pre 4 Pre 5 Pre 6 Pre 7 Pre 8 Post 1 Post 2 Post 3 Post 4 Post 5 Post 6

NonTM

TM

NonTM

TMNonTM

TM

TM Begins

90th Percentiles

80th Percentiles

70th Percentiles

Years

The Present Value of Future Estimated Costs of the Modalities During 20 Years of Hypertension Treatment

$0$1,000$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000$9,000

$10,000$11,000$12,000$13,000$14,000

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Data are in 1996 U.S. dollars. Herron, R.E., Schneider, R.H., Mandarino, J.V., Alexander, C.N., Walton, K.G. Cost-effective hypertension management: Comparison of drug therapies with an alternative program American Journal of Managed Care 1996; Vol. II(4): 427–437.

Mean Annual Age-Adjusted Per Capita Hospital Expenditures for the Norm, Control, and Maharishi Vedic Approach to

Health* (MVAH) Groups for Subjects Age 45 or Older

*The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is a comprehensive system of natural medicine that implements Ayurveda according to the classical texts. MVAH includes the Transcendental Meditation technique and many other safe and effective preventive and curative modalities. Data are in 1995 U.S. dollars. Source: Orme-Johnson, D.W., Herron, R.E. An innovative approach to reducing medical care utilization and costs American Journal of Managed Care 1997; 3(1): p. 135–144, see Table 2.

n = 226n = 1,410n = 198,000

MVAH subjects’ expenses over the four-year study were 87% lower than the Norm and 84% lower than Control group.

Mean Annual Age-Adjusted Per Capita Hospital Expenditures for the Norm, Control, and Maharishi Vedic Approach to

Health* (MVAH) Groups for Subjects Younger than Age 45

*The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is a comprehensive system of natural medicine that implements Ayurveda according to the classical texts. MVAH includes the Transcendental Meditation technique and many other safe and effective preventive and curative modalities. Data are in 1995 U.S. dollars. Source: Orme-Johnson, D.W., Herron, R.E. An innovative approach to reducing medical care utilization and costs American Journal of Managed Care 1997; 3(1): p. 135–144, see Table 2.

n = 467n = 2738n = 402,000

MVAH subjects’ expenses over the four-year study were 58% lower than the Norm and 60% lower than Control group.

Mean Annual Total Per Capita Medical Expenditures for the Norm, Control, and Maharishi Vedic Approach to

Health* (MVAH) Groups for Subjects of All Ages

*The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is a comprehensive system of natural medicine that implements Ayurveda according to the classical texts. MVAH includes the Transcendental Meditation technique and many other safe and effective preventive and treatment modalities. Data are in 1995 U.S. dollars. Source: Orme-Johnson, D.W., Herron, R.E. An innovative approach to reducing medical care utilization and costs American Journal of Managed Care 1997; 3(1): p. 135–144, see Table 3.

n = 600,000 n = 4,148 n = 693MVAH subjects’ expenses over the four-year study were 59% lower

than the Norm and 57% lower than the Control group.