Introduction

Skyrocketing health care costs leave an increasing number of Americans uninsured or with less meaningful coverage than they need and deserve—especially the 24 million Americans with diabetes.¹ The results of a recent survey found that 72 million, or 41 percent, of nonelderly adults have accumulated medical debt or experienced difficulty paying medical bills in the past year – 61 percent of whom had insurance.² Any medical event, like the diagnosis of diabetes, could place a person at risk for potentially devastating financial costs, even if they have health insurance.

The prevalence of diabetes more than doubled over two decades from 1986 to 2006,³ making diabetes the fifth deadliest disease in the nation.⁴ And its prevalence is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, as risk factors such as obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure continue to rise.

Families with a member who has diabetes not only shoulder the emotional burden of caring for a sick loved one, but also the economic burden of the growing cost for treatment. Diabetes cost the United States $174 billion in 2007, an increase of $8 billion per year over the last 5 years. The total cost is a combination of $116 billion in direct costs of treatment and $58.3 billion in indirect costs of lost productivity.⁵

Americans diagnosed with diabetes, whether insured or not, face significant and sometimes devastating hurdles to receiving timely, affordable treatment in our health care system.  Health insurance reform seeks to eliminate these hurdles to ensure that people with diabetes, along with all other Americans, get the quality, affordable health care they deserve.