Type 2 diabetes is a growing public health epidemic affecting over 23 million Americans. Diabetes disproportionately affects the emerging majority (African-Americans and Hispanics), and Medicare and Medicaid populations.
Cost
Annually, the U.S. spends approximately $116 billion for diagnosed diabetes with an additional $58 billion in indirect costs.1 One out of every three Medicare dollars is spent on diabetes, with a high percentage attributed to tertiary illness caused by unmanaged or undermanaged diabetes.3 The prevalence of diabetes is skyrocketing in America, and the cost of treatment is a growing financial burden on individuals and the health care system.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). National Diabetes Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf
2 Rabi, D. M., Edwards, A. L., Southern, D. A., Svenson, L. W., Sargious, P. M., Norton, P., Larsen, E. T., & Ghali, W. A. (2006). Association of socio-economic status with diabetes prevalence and utilization of diabetes care services. BMC Health Services Research, 6:124. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-6-124
3Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2011). Medicare Healthcare Support Overview. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/CCIP/
About 2 to 10 percent of pregnant women in the United States develop gestational diabetes, and these women have a 35 to 60 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 10 to 20 years.1