Diabetes Costs USA More Than Wars ...

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Diabetes costs USA more than wars, disasters, study says

Liz Szabo

USA TODAY

 

Uncontrolled diabetes wreaks havoc on the body, often leading to

kidney failure, blindness and death. A new study shows that the

nation's unchecked diabetes epidemic exacts a heavy financial toll as

well: $174 billion a year.

That's about as much as the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the

global war on terrorism combined. It's more than the $150 billion in

damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

 

The incidence of diabetes has ballooned — there are 1 million new

cases a year — as more Americans become overweight or obese,

according to the study, released Wednesday by the American Diabetes

Association. The cost of diabetes — both in direct medical care and

lost productivity — has swelled 32% since 2002, the report shows.

 

Diabetes killed more than 284,000 Americans last year, according to

the diabetes association.

 

Diabetes costs the nation nearly as much as cancer, whose costs in

2006 totaled $206.3 billion, although cancer kills twice as many

people, according to the American Cancer Society.

 

Even those without diabetes help pay the bill.

 

The mounting costs affect everyone with insurance, through rising

premiums and copays, says Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit

Research Institute, who was not involved with the report. About half

of diabetics have medical insurance through government programs such

as Medicare, the report shows.

 

Providing routine care — such as doctor's visits and medications —

costs relatively little, according to the report. The real expenses

come from uncontrolled diabetes, which can lead patients to require

dialysis and kidney transplants, says Ann Albright, a diabetes expert

at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and president of

health care and education at the American Diabetes Association, which

paid for the study.

 

About half of diabetes costs go to inpatient hospital care, the study

shows. Because diabetes makes people so much sicker, it increases the

time that people stay in the hospital for other problems by nearly

50%.

 

Albright expects the number of people diagnosed with diabetes to

increase, given that many Americans are " pre-diabetic, " with problems

handling insulin and sugar.

 

Diabetes " will ruin a generation of Americans, " says Helen Darling,

president of the National Business Group on Health, a non-profit that

represents large employers. Over the next few decades, she says,

diabetes will handicap both state and local economies, as communities

divert money from education and other important areas to care for

patients.

 

" It's a sad story that should cause us to take action, " Albright says.

 

 

Contributing: Bruce Rosenstein

 

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