Diabetes costs could soar in 10 years

NEW YORK -- Diabetes or prediabetic conditions will strike half of all adult Americans by the end of the decade unless people lose weight, said UnitedHealth Group, the largest U.S. health insurer by sales.

The disease will cost the nation almost $3.4 trillion in the 10 years through 2020, with more than 60 percent paid for by the U.S. government, according to a study released yesterday by the insurer based in Minnetonka, Minn. The numberof Americans with high blood sugar will rise 44 percent to 135 million in 2020, from 93.8 million in 2010, researchers said.

Diabetes is growing as the U.S. population grows older and fatter, said Simon Stevens, executive vice president of the company's Center for Health Reform & Modernization. About 28 million adult Americans, or 12 percent, are currently diabetic, while 66 million others, or 28 percent, are prediabetic, according to the study. Prediabetics can lower the odds of getting diabetes by losing weight, he said.

"There is nothing inevitable" about the rise in diabetes, Stevens said. "Even quite modest changes, like losing five percent of bodyweight, have the potential of producing decreases. If we don't take obesity seriously, we risk our children living shorter lives than we parents have lived."

The U.S. government has issued similar predictions about the growth in the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a study on Oct. 22 saying new cases will more than double by 2050, afflicting at least 1 in 5 adults. That amounts to as many as 75 million by midcentury. The CDC's estimate of adults with diabetes now is at least 32 million, according to the study.

"I can't comment on the differences in the numbers, but both show a growing problem," said Ann Al-bright, director of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation. "The message for everyone is that we need to take this issue seriously as a country.

"Diabetes is like dropping a rock in a pond and watching the ripples flow out from it," Albright said. "It's the No. 1 cause of blindness, the No. 1 cause of kidney disease and a huge contributor to heart attack and stroke."

People can help prevent diabetes through changes in lifestyle, such as increasing physical activity and losing weight, she said.

This is an "epidemic that is larger than breast cancer and HIV together," said Deneen Vojta, senior vice president at the UnitedHealth center.

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Majority Of Americans Will Have Diabetes Or Pre-Diabetes By 2020 - With Huge Financial Costs

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;??Sports Medicine / Fitness;??Public Health
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Imagine a society where over half its people, i.e. the majority of them, are diabetic or prediabetic. There is a good chance this will happen in the USA by 2020. The estimated $3.35 trillion cost over the coming ten years is massive. A study by The Center for Health Reform & Modernization of UnitedHealth Group, an insurance company, reveals that if the current pattern continues, those figures will be a reality within the next ten years. The report offers some suggestions which may slow things down, and perhaps even turn them round.

By 2020, diabetes and prediabetes will use up approximately 10% of health care spending, the authors estimate. The current annual health care bill of $194 billion will shoot up to nearly $500 billion.

UnitedHealth says it produced the report for November's National Diabetes Awareness month. Suggestions within it could save as much as $250 billion over the coming decade. Included are potential savings to the government in Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs of $144 billion.

It is vital that lifestyle interventions that address obesity and prevent prediabetes from developing into full blown diabetes are put into action. Medication programs to ensure proper diabetes control are also important.

Simon Stevens, executive vice president, UnitedHealth Group, and chairman of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, said: "Our new research shows there is a diabetes time bomb ticking in America, but fortunately there are practical steps that can be taken now to defuse it. What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action. Making a major impact on the prediabetes and diabetes epidemic will require health plans to engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models. Done right, the human and economic benefits for the nation could be substantial."Average healthcare costs in the USA for people without diabetes stand at approximately $4,400, compared to $11,700 for those with the disease. For diabetes patients with complications, the average annual cost rises to $20,700. Add to this the impact on work productivity and employer costs and the numbers increase considerably.

Diabetes rates in the USA are growing at such a rate that it is now "one of the fastest-growing diseases in the nation." 27 million Americans are known to have diabetes, and a further 67 million are thought to be prediabetic.

Diabetes Type 2 can sometimes have no symptoms at all. The same is the case with prediabetes. The percentage of babies born after the year 2000 who will probably have diabetes some time during their lives is extremely worrying. Diabetes significantly increases the risk of blindness, nerve damage, limb amputation, kidney disease, cancer, and heart disease.

The authors of the report explain the link between obesity and diabetes type 2 risk. Over two-thirds of US adults and 17% of children are overweight/obese. The report stresses that overweight/obesity rates are still rising, and consequently so are/will diabetes and prediabetes risk. The majority of American overweight/obese adults either have diabetes type 2 or prediabetes. The authors quote studies which have shown a doubling of type 2 diabetes risk when a person puts on 11-16 pounds of body weight. Those who gain 17 to 24 pounds triple their risk.

Deneen Vojta, M.D., senior vice president of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, who helped develop UnitedHealth Group's Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance, said: "Because diabetes follows a progressive course, often starting with obesity and then moving to prediabetes, there are multiple opportunities to intervene early and prevent this devastating disease before it's too late."The report offers four solutions: Lifestyle intervention - public health initiatives and more extensive use of wellness programs could reduce diabetes/prediabetes human totals by up to ten million.Preventing prediabetes from becoming full blown diabetes - community-based intervention programs have been shown to reduce prediabetes rates, consequently lowering eventual diabetes rates.Medication and care compliance programs - to achieve better diabetes control. Well controlled diabetes significantly lowers the risk of complications. Another word for compliance is adherence (sticking to the treatment plan).Public-private partnerships for lifestyle intervention strategies - the authors explain that more extensive use of public-private partnerships to develop infrastructure would have a beneficial effect on prediabetes and diabetes rates."The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead" (PDF)

Source: UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization (UnitedHealth Group)

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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posted by robert on 23 Nov 2010 at 9:27 am

Hungry society is impossible to control. Hungry societies start revolutions. Fat society is sick but easily manageable.

Why should we care about the overweight ones anyway. They don't care even about themselves. Besides that, overweight people spend a lot of money for heal related issue and they don’t live long past their retirement dates. In the long run all that FAT may be good for US economy.

Robert Knyzewski

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posted by Eileen on 23 Nov 2010 at 9:39 am

By the time people are diagnosed with diabetes with a high fasting result, many of them have had elevated post prandial results for some time. If we truly want to prevent the complications of diabetes we need to start catching these people at an earlier point in the disease process. Using only fasting blood sugars to diagnose diabetes is like closing the barn door after the horse got out.

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posted by Wally Geez on 23 Nov 2010 at 10:27 am

This epidemic hasn't happened overnight. Instead of attacking the cause head-on, we are actually INCREASING protection to those with the wrong lifestyle. It is politically incorrect to make any criticism, in fact; "Obesity" is now being classified as a "medical condition", so it will receive all the protection afforded other medical conditions. If you can't even tell someone who is fat that they are fat and need to address it, how are we going to prevent this from happening? Read these articles well and prepare for the economic disaster that awaits us all. The healthy will be asked to subsidize the unhealthy, fair or not.

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posted by Troy Robertson on 23 Nov 2010 at 10:56 am

I kicked out periodic three digit fasting glucose readings for 17 years that were considered "normal" until two years ago. Two years ago the high limit was lowered from 126 Mg/Dl to 99 Mg/Dl. Result, more cases of Type 2 Diabetes being diagnosed. This year, my doctor declared me a Type 2 Diabetic based on a fasting glucose of 106, and an A1C of 5.9. It was my first A1C test, but only one of a number of three digit fasting glucose tests over the years, mixed with moderate to high double digit results. Is this an attempt at early intervention, or just an attempt to extract more dollars by the health care and drug companies? I don't know the answer to my question, but somtimes industry and government receive the answers they ask for, rather than correct answers to the right questions.

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posted by BB Prescott on 23 Nov 2010 at 11:20 am

Check the stats. Compare when Diabetes started snowballing and when the food industry succeeded in luring the American public into consuming massive amounts of sugar and carbs. ...Hmm. One in three of us are obese now? Soon one in two? ...How can that be?

The truth is, we're becoming known around the world as "The Fat Americans". Our unwholesome diet and sedentary lifestyle is crippling and killing us.

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posted by pedro mohr on 23 Nov 2010 at 6:03 pm

There is a cure but do not expect to get it from average MD as it is not recognized by AMA.It makes use off minerals like chromium not often considered.

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posted by lester figgler on 23 Nov 2010 at 6:36 pm

Amerika is destined to have a scooterized population of quivering lardbucket people freaks. Healthy people who care about themselves will be asked to work harder, maybe get a third job, forego sleep and sustenance so that the Tubby Tubas can keep shopping for Soda Pop and Krispy Kremes. It's a compassion and equality 'thang.

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posted by ellen on 24 Nov 2010 at 4:30 am

Look at all the food additives which people can't control....high fructose corn syrup....msg...aspartame. It's not on the label...then there are vaccinations which lead to allergies and immune disorders.

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Data Mining Method Helps Hospitals Better Identify Needs Of Their Sickest Pediatric Patients And Could Reduce Health Care Costs

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Cystic Fibrosis;??Diabetes;??Blood / Hematology
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Children with chronic health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, sickle cell diseases and cerebral palsy represent less than two percent of the population but can consume more than 50 percent of resources at children's hospitals throughout the country. Coordinating care for these children has historically been difficult because hospitals have varying methods to identify them in their systems. In a new study led by John Neff, MD, of Seattle Children's Research Institute, researchers developed a unique method to identify children with serious lifelong chronic conditions using hospital discharge data that will enable children's hospitals to improve the quality of care for these patients and reduce costs. The study, "Identifying Children with Lifelong Chronic Conditions for Care Coordination Using Hospital Discharge Data," published online November 15 in Academic Pediatrics.

"In the long run, if we can identify these children, their cost patterns and needs, hospitals can then work with the state and health plans to provide support for the care coordination that they need. This should result in better quality of care and hopefully lower costs for these children," said Dr. Neff, clinical director at The Center for Children with Special Needs at Seattle Children's Hospital.

"One of the big barriers in the past is that hospitals have not known who their patient population is and have not been able to systematically identify them," added Neff. "Categorizing children with complex or multiple chronic conditions is particularly difficult because of the general infrequency and variable nature of their conditions. Because hospitals haven't had a reliable method to identify these patients, they haven't been able to effectively coordinate their care or know the cost implications to their own hospital."

Findings suggest that children with lifelong chronic conditions require a disproportionate share of resources in children's hospitals and when measured over several years are likely to accrue a high percentage of health costs. The study reviewed one hospital's records from 2007; these children represented 41.1 percent of Seattle Children's Hospital total patients and 71.4 percent of patient days.

Neff and co-investigators combined the use of hospital discharge data from Seattle Children's Hospital and its primary care clinic, Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (OBCC) over seven years from 2001 through 2007. They selected patients whose primary care occurred at OBCC and hospitalization and emergency department care were likely to be at Children's. Using Clinical Risk Groups (CRGs) software to analyze the data - CRGs is a risk adjustment method that has been used with health plan data to identify and stratify individuals into condition and severity groups, but has not previously been used to analyze patients in hospital discharge data - patient information was classified according to complexity of diseases and primary chronic conditions. That data was merged with hospital discharge data to identify what hospital services those patients used.

As a result of this data and methodology, Seattle Children's Hospital is launching a study that will examine how to improve the coordination of care for patients with lifelong chronic conditions, decrease their need for hospitalization and improve their quality of life. The study will follow approximately 600 of these medically complex patients for two years in a clinic that will work with patients' primary care providers to develop care plans and other interventions to improve their care and reduce the need for hospitalization.

"This will be the most comprehensive study of its kind," said Mark Del Beccaro, MD, pediatrician-in-chief at Seattle Children's Hospital. "If we succeed in showing we can improve care and lower costs for the patients and their families, this will also have tremendous implications nationally as these most complex and fragile of patients utilize a significant portion of health care expenditures in every community and state."

Neff's study collaborators were Seattle Children's Holly Clifton, MPH, Kathleen J. Park, MD, MPH, Caren Goldenberg, MPH, Jean Popalisky, DNP, RN, James W. Stout MD, MPH, and Benjamin S. Danielson, MD.

Source:
Louise Maxwell
Seattle Children's

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Press Release - Reducing Health Costs Through Lower Food Prices

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Lehigh researcher finds lowering cost of low-carbohydrate foods can reduce medical costs for diabetic patients.

Reducing Health Costs Through Lower Food Prices Oct 20, 2010 This press release is an announcement submitted by Lehigh University, and was not written by Diabetes Health.

Reducing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods for people with diabetes could significantly reduce medical costs associated with the disease that affects more than 23 million Americans, according to a recent study.

Chad Meyerhoefer, professor of economics at Lehigh University, and Ephraim Leibtag, a senior research economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, recently released the results of a study that evaluated the impact of prices of low- and high-carbohydrate foods on the prevalence and medical cost of diabetes. The study was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

"We found that subsidizing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods through vouchers or coupons could help improve the health of people with diabetes and reduce their expenditures on medical care," said Meyerhoefer, a health economist who studies obesity, food consumption decisions and public policy. "This is a new way to think about using food prices as a mechanism to improve health."??For example, Meyerhoefer and Leibtag found that a 10 percent subsidy on the low-carbohydrate food purchases of people with diabetes would reduce medical costs in the U.S. by $6.3 billion annually.??

Other studies have shown diabetic patients, who rely on low-carbohydrate foods to control their blood sugar levels, have medical costs 2.4 to 2.6 times higher than those without diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, total costs associated with diabetes including disability and lost productivity were $174 billion in 2007.

Meyerhoefer and Leibtag's findings also suggest subsidizing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods is more effective than taxing high-carbohydrate foods like soda, often referred to as a "sugar tax."

"Our research shows that people with diabetes are more likely to respond positively to a decrease in the cost of healthier, low-carbohydrate foods than a price increase or tax on high-carbohydrate foods," Meyerhoefer said. "If you want to help improve the health of people with chronic conditions by influencing their behavior rather than increasing their use of medical services, this provides a means of doing so."

Insurers already are enrolling patients with diabetes in disease management programs that could serve as a means for subsidy interventions, Meyerhoefer said.

- - - - -

About Lehigh?
For 144 years,?Lehigh University (www.lehigh.edu) has combined outstanding academic and learning opportunities with leadership in fostering innovative research. The institution is among the nation's most selective, highly ranked private research universities. Lehigh's four colleges - College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics, College of Education and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science - provide opportunities to 7,000 students to discover and grow in a learning community that promotes interdisciplinary programs with real-world experience. Lehigh's campus is located in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley - in Bethlehem, PA (50 miles north of Philadelphia and 75 miles southwest of New York City).

Categories: Food, Government & Policy, Health, Health Research, Low Carb, Nutrition Research, Pre-Diabetes, Type 2 Issues

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Press Release - Reducing Health Costs Through Lower Food Prices

Reducing Health Costs Through Lower Food Prices - Diabetes Health My Account ??|??Subscribe??|??Contact Us??|??Donate Search Home Charts Recipes Digital Edition TV Apps Community Kids & Teens Type 2 Issues Type 1 Issues Professional Issues Pre-Diabetes Beginners International Health Events History Camps for Kids Online Resources Dating Pets Type 1.5 Issues All Sections Products Product Directory Charts Syringes Insulin Pumps Meters Pens Software CGMs Books Medical ID Jewelry Lancing Devices Infusion Sets Carrying Cases Pen Needles All Sections Complications & Care Heart Care & Heart Disease Low Blood Sugar Kidney Care (Nephropathy) Foot Care Nerve Care (Neuropathy) Eye Care (Retinopathy) Hypoglycemia Unawareness Sexual Issues Geriatrics Depression Insulin Resistance Skin Care Lipid Problems Wound Care Reversing Complications All Sections Food Recipes Diets Vitamins Food News Nutrition Advice Low Carb Supplements Glycemic Index & Carb Counting Beverages Low Calorie & Low Fat Sugar & Sweeteners Desserts Herbs Dinner Lunch All Sections Columns Cartoons & eCards Personal Stories Letters to the Editor Inspiration My Own Injection Book Reviews Motivation Heroes Making a Difference CDE of the Month Doctors & Nurses Love and Diabetes After All These Years All Sections Medications Insulin Type 2 Medications Metformin Pharmacy Lantus Byetta Actos Animal Insulin Januvia Victoza Symlin Apidra Onglyza Voglibose All Sections Research Nutrition Research Islet & Pancreas Transplant Medications Research Health Research The Cure Beta Cells Other Lab Tests Artificial Pancreas New Cure Research Case Studies All Sections Fitness Exercise Weight Loss Bariatric Surgery Success Stories Amphetamines All Sections Psychology Adolescent Boys Adolescent Girls Living with Diabetes Support Groups Women's Issues Men's Issues Teenagers Insulin Omission All Sections Monitoring Blood Sugar A1c Test Noninvasive Monitors Urine Test Laboratory Tests All Sections Health Care Health Insurance Hospital Care Endocrinology Complementary Therapies Smoking CDE Physical Therapy All Sections Legal Government & Policy Discrimination Drivers License & Pilot License Politics Driving 504 Plan in School Lobbying All Sections Pregnancy Childbirth Breastfeeding Gestational Diabetes All Sections Celebrities Nick Jonas Jay Hewitt Scott Dunton Elliott Yamin All Sections About UsAbout UsPublisher's LetterAdvertisingContact UsPress RoomSubmission GuidelinesPrivacy Policy Help function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;}

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Lehigh researcher finds lowering cost of low-carbohydrate foods can reduce medical costs for diabetic patients.

Reducing Health Costs Through Lower Food Prices Oct 20, 2010 This press release is an announcement submitted by Lehigh University, and was not written by Diabetes Health.

Reducing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods for people with diabetes could significantly reduce medical costs associated with the disease that affects more than 23 million Americans, according to a recent study.

Chad Meyerhoefer, professor of economics at Lehigh University, and Ephraim Leibtag, a senior research economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, recently released the results of a study that evaluated the impact of prices of low- and high-carbohydrate foods on the prevalence and medical cost of diabetes. The study was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

"We found that subsidizing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods through vouchers or coupons could help improve the health of people with diabetes and reduce their expenditures on medical care," said Meyerhoefer, a health economist who studies obesity, food consumption decisions and public policy. "This is a new way to think about using food prices as a mechanism to improve health."??For example, Meyerhoefer and Leibtag found that a 10 percent subsidy on the low-carbohydrate food purchases of people with diabetes would reduce medical costs in the U.S. by $6.3 billion annually.??

Other studies have shown diabetic patients, who rely on low-carbohydrate foods to control their blood sugar levels, have medical costs 2.4 to 2.6 times higher than those without diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, total costs associated with diabetes including disability and lost productivity were $174 billion in 2007.

Meyerhoefer and Leibtag's findings also suggest subsidizing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods is more effective than taxing high-carbohydrate foods like soda, often referred to as a "sugar tax."

"Our research shows that people with diabetes are more likely to respond positively to a decrease in the cost of healthier, low-carbohydrate foods than a price increase or tax on high-carbohydrate foods," Meyerhoefer said. "If you want to help improve the health of people with chronic conditions by influencing their behavior rather than increasing their use of medical services, this provides a means of doing so."

Insurers already are enrolling patients with diabetes in disease management programs that could serve as a means for subsidy interventions, Meyerhoefer said.

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About Lehigh?
For 144 years,?Lehigh University (www.lehigh.edu) has combined outstanding academic and learning opportunities with leadership in fostering innovative research. The institution is among the nation's most selective, highly ranked private research universities. Lehigh's four colleges - College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics, College of Education and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science - provide opportunities to 7,000 students to discover and grow in a learning community that promotes interdisciplinary programs with real-world experience. Lehigh's campus is located in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley - in Bethlehem, PA (50 miles north of Philadelphia and 75 miles southwest of New York City).

Categories: Food, Government & Policy, Health, Health Research, Low Carb, Nutrition Research, Pre-Diabetes, Type 2 Issues

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