$218 Billion: The Cost of Diabetes Care in the U.S.

On November 18, 2008 the Associated Press released a new study that shoes the totl cost for diabetes in America to be $218 billion. This is the first time a comprehensive estimate of the total financial cost diabetes takes, according to Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S, which paid for the study.

The $218 Billion figure includes direct medical care costs, including amputations, hospitalization, medicines including insulin and pills for controlling patients' blood sugar, plus indirect costs such as disability due to amputation, lost productivity, disability, and forced early retirement.

The study, conducted by the Lewin Group consultants conducted the study, estimated that it costs to society society for people known to have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes are estimated at $174.4 billion.

The firm explain that part of that $174 billion included an estimated $10.5 billion in medical costs and $4.4 billion in indirect costs, or a total of $14.9 billion, for people with Type 1 diabetes. This is the type of diabetes, which begins much earlier in life and was previously called childhood or juvenile diabetes. It’s been estimated that about 6 percent of the 17.5 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes actually have Type 1.

The study demonstrated that the vast majority of cost, which was estimated at $105.7 billion in direct costs and another $53.8 billion in indirect costs, for a whopping total of $159.5 billion, for people with Type 2 diabetes. This shows that Nearly 10 times the amount of health care dollars are spent on type 2 diabetes as opposed to type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has previously been referred to as adult-onset diabetes because of the average age at diagnosis is typically much later in life. This type of diabetes is also directly correlated with obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

This study does also add in estimates for people who have not yet been diagnosed ($18 billion), women who develop , gestational diabetes (diabetes which is only temporary and occurs during pregnancy) ($636 million), and those who exhibit characteristics of diabetes, and maybe in the process of developing the condition which is now frequently referred to as pre-diabetes ($25 billion).

These findings were recently presented at a healthcare conference for corporate executives. The firm that produced and funded the study does plan to publish a full report in a medical journal soon. These figures were produced based on numbers from sources including databases on treatment of people with Medicare, Medicaid, private and commercial insurance, federally funded public health surveys, and other sources.

Dr. Christopher Segler

Diabetic Clinical Researcher

Award Winning Foot Surgeon

Dr. Christopher Segler is an author, inventor and award winning diabetic foot specialist. He is the founder of a private consulting firm specializing in the prevention of diabetic foot amputations. If you or someone you care about has diabetes, you can learn more by simply requesting your FREE report “No Leg Left To Stand On: The Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know About Diabetic Foot Amputation” at http://www.ineedmyfeet.com.