Federal Medical and Disability Program Costs Associated with Diabetes, 2005. Summary of Methods and Key Findings.

Diabetes is a growing threat to the nation’s health that has serious and costly complications. This paper looks behind the $79.7 billion estimates for 2005 of medical and disability costs to the federal government cited in Mathematica’s main study. The estimates include $2.5 billion in disability payments associated with diabetes and $77.2 billion in increased medical costs. Nearly 80 percent of the medical costs to the federal government were incurred in the Medicare program. Without enhanced efforts to control blood glucose, reduce the risk of complications, and prevent the onset of diabetes, federal costs related to diabetes will grow in the future.