One in Eight Healthcare Dollars in the U.S. Goes for Diabetes Care

Healthcare dollars

Most of the numbers below won’t mean much to you because they are mind-boggling—and mind-numbing. Also note that most of the cost is caused by type 2 diabetes in people over 65. From Diabetes Care:

“The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2017 is $327 billion, including $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in reduced productivity. For the cost categories analyzed, care for people with diagnosed diabetes accounts for 1 in 4 health care dollars in the U.S., and more than half of that expenditure is directly attributable to diabetes. People with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of ∼$16,750 per year, of which ∼$9,600 is attributed to diabetes. People with diagnosed diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures ∼2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes. Indirect costs include increased absenteeism ($3.3 billion) and reduced productivity while at work ($26.9 billion) for the employed population, reduced productivity for those not in the labor force ($2.3 billion), inability to work because of disease-related disability ($37.5 billion), and lost productivity due to 277,000 premature deaths attributed to diabetes ($19.9 billion).”

Source: Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017 | Diabetes Care

Drastically reduce your diabetes healthcare expenditures by incorporating the ideas in my books. The ball’s in your court.

Steve Parker, M.D.