Spending for People with Diabetes Growing Faster Than for Non-Diabetics

Health care spending for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes covered by employer-sponsored insurance grew almost 6% in 2014 compared with 3.2% for people without diabetes, according to a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute.

The institute based its 2014 Diabetes Health Care Cost and Utilization Report on the health care claims of more than 40 million US residents younger than age 65 and covered by employer-sponsored insurance between 2012 and 2014.

“This report examines the patterns of care for people with diabetes,” said David Newman, executive director of the institute. “By looking beyond treatment for diabetes, we can see what other health issues people with diabetes are facing – such as heart disease – so that the health care system might better address those complex needs.”

In 2014, spending on people with diabetes reached $16,021 per capita, according to the report, an $897 jump from the previous year and more than $10,000 more per capita than people without diabetes. The institute attributes the spending growth to an increase in emergency department visits and prescriptions. People with diabetes had double the number of physician and emergency department visits than people without diabetes and took more than 5 times the amount of prescription medications.

Cardiovascular drugs were the most commonly used medications among adults with diabetes, topping even insulin. People with diabetes had 7 times more filled days of cardiovascular drugs than people without diabetes, according to the institute.

The report also found that young adults with diabetes had 4 times more hospital admissions for mental health and substance use than their peers without diabetes.

Out-of-pocket spending for people with diabetes, meanwhile, was 2.5 times higher than spending for people without diabetes. People with diabetes spent an average $1944 out of pocket per capita in 2014, compared with $752 in average out-of-pocket spending per capita for people without diabetes. The spending difference by diabetes status, however, declined with age, with a larger gap in out-of-pocket spending between children than adults.—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Rise in health care spending for people with diabetes in 2014, increase in ER visits and use of generic prescriptions, finds new report [press release]. Health Care Cost Institute: Washington, DC; June 20, 2016.