The increasing prevalence of diabetes is, as it happens, coming with rising costs, especially for kids.
Diabetic adults covered in employer-sponsored insurance have healthcare costs on average near $15,000--$10,000 more than their non-diabetic peers, according to a new study by the Health Care Cost Institute.
From 2009 to 2013, pre-65-year-old adult diabetics on employer-sponsored plans saw their healthcare spending increase $1,000 to about $15,000 per capita, according to the Institute, which uses data from Aetna, Humana, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare. Those individuals with diabetes also pay more out-of-pocket than their non-diabetic peers, on the order of 2.5 times more.
"The number of people with diabetes continues to grow, as does the health care spending for these individuals," said HCCI executive director David Newman. Diabetes claimed an estimated $245 billion in U.S. spending in 2012, about $175 billion of it in direct healthcare spending
"We, and others, need to better understand the relationship between spending and actual health outcomes for people with diabetes, particularly children," Newman said.
Spending for youth up to age 18 with diabetes (both Type 1 and Type 2) was even higher than for adults, at $15,400 on average, the study found.
"There has been extraordinary growth in healthcare spending for children with diabetes," said HCCI senior researcher Amanda Frost. "It appears that higher spending on branded insulin is one factor influencing this trend."
In 2013, Frost and colleagues found, about $2,500 was spent on branded insulin per adolescent with diabetes--more than four times the spending on branded insulin for middle-aged and pre-Medicare adults.
The study found that 2013 spending on both branded and generic anti-diabetic medications varied across age groups. While branded anti-diabetic agents consumed more spending for children and young adults, spending on generics was higher in middle-aged and older adults.
Part of the discrepancy comes from the high rate of insulin use among diabetic youths, including those with Type 1 diabetes. In 2013, spending on insulin accounted for 99 percent of diabetic drug spending for children and 95 percent for young adults, compared to just about 50 percent for diabetics in middle-age and in their 50s and early 60s.
Spending on kids with insulin-dependent diabetes--indeed on all insulin-dependent diabetics--is likely to continue as a challenge until a generic form of insulin or more competition among branded agents become available.
(Graph via the HCCI.)