Patients with diabetes account for one in three hospitalizations in California, according to a new study on diabetes prevalence in the state. The study highlights the impact the disease is having on health care costs.
Conducted by the University of California Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research, this study of hospital discharge records found that among all hospitalized California patients age 35 or older, 31 percent had diabetes. About 11.6 percent of Californians 35 or older had diabetes as of 2012, pointing to the disproportionate share of patients with diabetes among those hospitalized.
According to the study, hospitalizations of patients with diabetes cost nearly $2,200 more per hospitalization than those for patients without diabetes, regardless of the primary reason for hospitalization. The disease adds an extra $1.6 billion each year to California’s hospitalization costs. Three-quarters of care for patients with diabetes is paid through government-funded Medicare and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.
Nationally, diabetes cost the United States an estimated $245 billion in 2012, according to the American Diabetes Association. Average medical expenditures for people with diabetes are 2.3 times higher than for those without diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 29 million people in the United States have diabetes, and another 86 million individuals have prediabetes.
To get this troubling disease under control, the AMA is focusing on systematic prevention of diabetes as part of its Improving Health Outcomes initiative. The AMA is joining with the YMCA of the USA to pilot the development of clinical-community linkages that leverage the substantial body of evidence on diabetes prevention. The pilot, currently in three states, will establish a process for physicians to increase screening for prediabetes, refer patients to the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program in their community and receive updates to incorporate into the patient’s care plan.
Research estimates that a pending Medicare bill, the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Act, could save $1.3 billion in federal spending over the next decade by covering the participation of eligible Medicare beneficiaries in the CDC’s evidence-based National Diabetes Prevention Program, of which the YMCA’s program is part.
Visit the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program website to find out whether an evidence-based diabetes prevention program is available in your community.
