Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2002

The study highlights the large and rising cost of the disease: an estimated $132 billion, or approximately $92 billion in direct healthcare expenditures and $40 billion in lost productivity attributed to missed workdays, disability, and early mortality. After adjusting for differences in demographics between the two populations, the study finds that people with diabetes incur healthcare costs approximately 2.4 times higher than people without diabetes. One- third of the approximately 17 million people in the U.S. with diabetes remain undiagnosed, $132 billion represents a conservative estimate. Moreover, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increases with age and is higher among certain racial and ethnic minority populations, which portends a substantial increase in incidence of the disease (and its associated costs) as the nation grows older and becomes more racially and ethnically diverse.