CDC study finds annual cost of care is six times higher than for young people without diabetes
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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Young people with diabetes face substantially higher medical costs than children and teens without the disease, according to a CDC study published in the May issue of the journal Diabetes Care. The study found annual medical expenses for youth with diabetes are $9,061, compared to $1,468 for youth without the disease.
Much of the extra medical costs come from prescription drugs and
outpatient care. Young people with the highest medical costs were
treated with insulin, and included all those with type 1 diabetes and
some with type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes cannot make
insulin anymore and must receive insulin treatment. Some people with
type 2 diabetes also are treated with insulin, because their bodies do
not produce enough to control blood glucose (sugar).
Children and adolescents who received insulin treatment had annual
medical costs of $9,333, compared to $5,683 for those who did not
receive insulin, but did take oral medications to control blood glucose.
“Young people with diabetes face medical costs that are six times higher
than their peers without diabetes,” said Ann Albright, Ph.D., R.D.,
director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation. “Most youth with
diabetes need insulin to survive and the medical costs for young people
on insulin were almost 65 percent higher than for those who did not
require insulin to treat their diabetes.”
The study examined medical costs for children and teens aged 19 years or
younger who were covered by employer-sponsored private health insurance
plans in 2007, using the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters
Database. The estimates were based on administrative claim data from
nearly 50,000 youth, including 8,226 with diabetes.
Medical costs for people with diabetes, the vast majority of whom are
adults, are 2.3 times higher than costs for those without diabetes,
according to CDC’s National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011. Authors of the
Diabetes Care study suggest that the difference in medical costs
associated with diabetes may be greater for youth than for adults
because of higher medication expenses, visits to specialists and medical
supplies such as insulin syringes and glucose testing strips.
Among youth with diabetes, 92 percent were on insulin, compared to 26
percent of adults with diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the
pancreas that helps convert blood glucose into energy. Without adequate
insulin, blood glucose levels rise and can eventually lead to serious
health complications, including heart disease, kidney failure,
blindness, nerve damage and amputation of feet and legs.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the body’s immune system destroys
insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Risk factors may be
genetic or environmental. There is no known way to prevent type 1
diabetes.
In type 2 diabetes, the body no longer handles insulin properly and
gradually loses the ability to produce it. Risk factors include
obesity, older age, family history, physical inactivity, history of
diabetes while pregnant, and race/ethnicity. Type 2 diabetes is
extremely rare in children younger than 10 years. Although type 2
diabetes is infrequent in children and teens aged 10 to 19 years, rates
are higher in this group compared to younger children, with higher rates
among minorities.
For information about diabetes, visit www.cdc.gov/diabetes or the
National Diabetes Education Program at www.yourdiabetesinfo.org. To
learn more about diabetes in youth, visit www.cdc.gov/diabetes/youth.
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