Cost of Diabetes
Monday, April 14, 2008

Diabetes is taking a huge toll on this country, not just physically, but financially as well. In today’s 60 Second Housecall, Dr. Ken Davis discusses the cost of diabetes.

 Diabetes is costing the United States more than 174 billion dollars each year, according to an analysis by the American Diabetes Association.

The study concluded that direct medical care and treatment for diabetes complications, along with indirect costs like lost productivity, have gone up over 30 percent since 2002.

Most of the medical costs associated with diabetes come from treating complications like eye disease, amputations and kidney failure. The report estimates that about 27 billion dollars went to treating diabetes itself.

The 174 billion dollar figure means that nearly one-tenth of the nation's 2 trillion dollar health budget goes to diabetes care.

More than 21 million Americans are thought to have diabetes. The report’s estimates include roughly 6 million who have the disease but are undiagnosed.

While diabetes patients on average have better glucose control than they did a decade ago, the number of people with diabetes continues to rise.

For North Mississippi Medical Center, I’m Dr. Ken Davis.