• There are 20.8 million people in the United States, or one in 14, who have type 2 diabetes.1 Of these people, 6.2 million don’t even know they have the disease.

  • Diabetes exacts a huge human and financial cost on our health care system and totaled $132 billion in 2002. Most of the total cost was associated with consequences of failing to properly manage the disease. These costs included $24.6 billion for chronic diabetes-related complications, $44.1 billion for excess prevalence of general medical conditions, and $40.8 billion in indirect costs resulting from lost workdays, restricted activity days, mortality and permanent disability due to diabetes.2

  • Medical technology — such as diagnostic lab test technology, blood glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and insulin needles — enable people to detect, monitor and manage their diabetes, helping to substantially reduce this huge financial toll. Research indicates that for every one point reduction in A1C — a marker for assessing average blood glucose control — the risk of developing microvascular diabetic complications (eye, kidney and nerve disease) is lowered by up to 40 percent.3 Moreover, recent studies found that every dollar spent on controlling blood glucose levels for people with type 2 diabetes yields health care gains ranging from $3.77 to $8.65.4,5

  • Although employees with diabetes cost employers $4,400 more than employees without diabetes, proper diabetes management can reduce preventable medical expenditures for diabetes patients. A study showed that patients who received active treatment attained a more productive work capacity, higher employment retention, less absenteeism and a more positive outlook.6

  1. American Diabetes Association. “Type 2 diabetes — All about diabetes.” http://www.diabetes.org/type-2-diabetes.jsp (10 April 2006).

  2. American Diabetes Association. “Direct and indirect costs of diabetes in the United States.” http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp (14 April 2006).

  3. American Diabetes Association. “National Diabetes Fact Sheet.” http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/national-diabetes-fact-sheet.jsp (13 April 2006).

  4. Eastman RC, Javitt JC, Herman WH, et. al. “Model of Complications of NIDDM: Analysis of the Health Benefits and Cost-Effectiveness of treating NIDDM with the Goal of Normoglycemia.” Diabetes Care 20(5) (1997):735-744.

  5. CDC Diabetes Cost-Effectiveness Group. “Cost-Effectiveness of Intensive Glycemic Control, Intensified Hypertension Control, and Serum Cholesterol Level Reduction for Type 2 Diabetes.” The Journal of the American Medical Association 287 (2002):2542-2551.

  6. National Committee for Quality Assurance. “Comprehensive diabetes care: The state of health care quality, 2002.” http://www.ncqa.org/sohc2002/sohc2002cdiab.html (11 April 2006).

 
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