THE ECONOMIC COSTS
Diabetes affects almost 24 million adults and children in the U.S., over 7% of the population. A 2007 study estimated that diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) caused the U.S. economy $174 billion in direct medical costs and indirect costs such as disability, work loss, and premature mortality.
Consider these facts:
- The costs of diabetes every year are nearly 6 times the entire NIH budget;
- In 2004, hospitals spent approximately $58 billion on the 6 million hospital stays of patients diagnosed with diabetes which represents 20% of the total hospital spending on all 38.6 million patients;
- Diabetes care accounts for 1/3 of every Medicare dollar;
- Estimates in 2007 reveal that over 1 million people with diabetes are receiving Supplemental Security Income payments and over 445,000 were unemployed at a national cost of $7.9 billion;
- The annual health care costs for a person with diabetes are 2.3 times higher than for a non-diabetic individual;
- In 2007, annual U.S. medical expenditures are $11,744 on every person with diabetes compared to only $5,095 on every person without diabetes.
- One in 5 health care dollars in the U.S. is spent caring for someone with diabetes.
