Cost of diabetes could be $3.35 trillion by 2020

The number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and the related costs of the disease could reach catastrophic proportions, according to new research by the UnitedHealth Group.

The new projections are alarming, as more than 50% of Americans could have prediabetes or diabetes by 2020, which could carry a healthcare price tag of $3.35 trillion over the decade. New estimates show diabetes and prediabetes will account for an estimated 10% of total healthcare spending by the end of the decade at an annual cost of almost $500 billion –– up from an estimated $194 billion this year, UnitedHealth said in its new report, “The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead.”

Estimates in the report were calculated using the same model as the widely cited 2007 study on the national cost burden of diabetes commissioned by the American Diabetes Association, UnitedHealth noted.

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Study Finds Differences in Care for Patients Beginning on Dialysis

A study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN)says that kidney disease patients
insured by some federally sponsored national health care organizations are more likely to undergo an important predialysis procedure than patients with other types of insurance.

The results may provide insights into ways to improve kidney-related care for patients before they go on dialysis.

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Diabetes-related hospitalizations on the rise

Nearly 1-in-5 hospitalizations in 2008 were related to diabetes, according to a recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That means a total of more than 7.7 million hospital stays and $83 million in hospital costs, of which Medicare covered 60%, the report found. On average, diabetes patients paid $10,937 for hospitalization, while those without the disease paid $8,746.

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