Diabetes Costs Nation $245 Billion Annually

The growing toll of diabetes cost the nation a record high $245 billion in 2012, a 41% increase from $174 billion in 2007, says USA Today. The study Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2012, commissioned by the American Diabetes Association, estimated the health care and work-related costs of diagnosed diabetes. The full study will be published in the April issue of Diabetes Care.

The study estimated that 22.3 million people in the USA were diagnosed with diabetes in 2012. An earlier study by the association estimated that nearly 17.5 million people in the USA were diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in 2007. The study found that direct medical costs totaled $176 billion, reflecting hospital and emergency care, office visits and medications. Indirect costs added up to $69 billion, which includes absenteeism, reduced or lost productivity, and unemployment caused by diabetes-related disability.