DataPoint: Diabetes

Type 1 or type 2 diabetes have been diagnosed in one in five Americans aged 65 years and over. Direct medical costs for diabetes in the United States totaled $176 billion in 2012. Data from the 2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) found that beneficiaries with diabetes reported worse general health, more inpatient admissions, and higher out-of-pocket health care costs than those without diabetes. Twenty-eight percent of Medicare beneficiaries over 65 reported type 1 (2.3 percent), type 2 (18.9 percent), or prediabetes (6.6 percent). Beneficiaries with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were two to three times more likely to report fair or poor health than those without diabetes. The 2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Report, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is available here.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820