With the costs of diabetes care expected to skyrocket in the next 10 years, providers need to develop improved preventive care and early intervention strategies for the condition, according to a release by UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest insurer.
If nothing more is done, the annual cost of treatment for diabetes and pre-diabetes would grow from an estimated $194 billion this year to $500 billion in 2020 and the 10-year cost would reach $3.35 trillion, UnitedHealth's Center for Health Reform & Modernization predicted.
The center said more programs to prevent and control diabetes could save up to $250 billion over the next 10 years. "What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action,” said Simon Stevens, executive vice president at UnitedHealth and chairman of the center. He cited the need to "engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models."
Read the UnitedHealth Group release on diabetes prevention.
Read more coverage on diabetes care as part of healthcare reform:
- Start With a Targeted Accountable Care Arrangement Before Jumping Into an ACO
- Study: Potential Problems With Role of Physicians and Specialists in Medical Home Model
- CDC Finds 9M More Uninsured than Earlier Estimate; 40% Have Chronic Diseases
If nothing more is done, the annual cost of treatment for diabetes and pre-diabetes would grow from an estimated $194 billion this year to $500 billion in 2020 and the 10-year cost would reach $3.35 trillion, UnitedHealth's Center for Health Reform & Modernization predicted.
The center said more programs to prevent and control diabetes could save up to $250 billion over the next 10 years. "What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action,” said Simon Stevens, executive vice president at UnitedHealth and chairman of the center. He cited the need to "engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models."
Read the UnitedHealth Group release on diabetes prevention.
Read more coverage on diabetes care as part of healthcare reform:
- Start With a Targeted Accountable Care Arrangement Before Jumping Into an ACO
- Study: Potential Problems With Role of Physicians and Specialists in Medical Home Model
- CDC Finds 9M More Uninsured than Earlier Estimate; 40% Have Chronic Diseases