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Original Research
Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017
American Diabetes Association
Diabetes Care 2018 Mar; dci180007. https://doi.org/10.2337/dci18-0007
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE This study updates previous estimates of the economic burden of diagnosed diabetes and quantifies the increased health resource use and lost productivity associated with diabetes in 2017.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We use a prevalence-based approach that combines the demographics of the U.S. population in 2017 with diabetes prevalence, epidemiological data, health care cost, and economic data into a Cost of Diabetes Model. Health resource use and associated medical costs are analyzed by age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance coverage, medical condition, and health service category. Data sources include national surveys, Medicare standard analytical files, and one of the largest claims databases for the commercially insured population in the U.S.

RESULTS 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).

CONCLUSIONS After adjusting for inflation, economic costs of diabetes increased by 26% from 2012 to 2017 due to the increased prevalence of diabetes and the increased cost per person with diabetes. The growth in diabetes prevalence and medical costs is primarily among the population aged 65 years and older, contributing to a growing economic cost to the Medicare program. The estimates in this article highlight the substantial financial burden that diabetes imposes on society, in addition to intangible costs from pain and suffering, resources from care provided by nonpaid caregivers, and costs associated with undiagnosed diabetes.

Footnotes

  • This article contains Supplementary Data online at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.2337/dci18-0007/-/DC1.

  • © 2018 by the American Diabetes Association.
http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license

Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license.

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Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017
American Diabetes Association
Diabetes Care Mar 2018, dci180007; DOI: 10.2337/dci18-0007

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Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017
American Diabetes Association
Diabetes Care Mar 2018, dci180007; DOI: 10.2337/dci18-0007
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© 2021 by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care Print ISSN: 0149-5992, Online ISSN: 1935-5548.