WASHINGTON--One out of every eight federal health care dollars in 2005 was spent on treating people with diabetes, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Changing Diabetes Program.
The study, presented at a Capitol Hill briefing, found that diabetes care cost the government nearly $80 billion in 2005, and researchers said it could get worse: "Without strong federal leadership, the human and economic costs of diabetes and its complications--at least some of which are avoidable or controllable--will continue to mount."
To remedy the situation, diabetes advocates called on Congress to create a "National Changing Diabetes Coordinator" to oversee spending and align efforts to combat the disease across federal agencies. They also said diabetes screening and early detection should be a priority in all federal programs, particularly Medicare and Medicaid.
Since 1980, the number of Americans with diabetes has doubled to more than 20 million, and that number is projected to double again by 2025. Complications from the disease--including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, blindness, amputation and renal disease--are largely preventable with proper management and treatment, according to researchers.
But the study said the government is missing opportunities for prevention and early detection of diabetes and its risk factors, that programs already in place meant to promote these goals are underused and that there is little cooperation among federal programs to fight the disease.
According to the study, the government spends about $4 billion on diabetes prevention and health promotion programs, only one-twentieth the amount spent on treatment. While virtually every department in the federal government--18 out of 21--has some level of spending that impacts diabetes, the study found, there is "a serious lack of coordination" across the various agencies and programs.
"We are spending as much on diabetes as we are on the entire Department of Education, but no one is leading the effort," said Dana Haza, senior director of the NCDP, a prevention and treatment initiative of Danish insulin manufacturer Novo Nordisk.
Neither a new Medicare diabetes screening program that could increase the number of early detections or a 10-year-old self-management program that helps diabetes patients monitor their glucose levels are being used to the extent they should be, the study said.
"Coordinating America's response to diabetes should be mandatory," said Lana Vukovljak, CEO of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, who presented recommendations from diabetes advocates in response to the study. "Over the next 30 years, diabetes is expected to claim the lives of 62 million Americans. Surely this health crisis warrants the appointment of a manager charged with aligning budgets and programs for diabetes at the federal level."
Conducted by Mathematica Research, the full report is available at http://www.ncdp.com.