Diabetes costs one of out every five healthcare dollars in the U.S. Source: Meharry Medical School

Diabetes is costing Americans $174 billion annually, a figure that has increased by 32 percent since 2002, according to a study commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

According to the study:

• Medical expenditures of care for people with diabetes are estimated to be $116 billion, with a disproportionate percentage of the costs resulting from treatment and hospitalization of people with diabetes-related complications.
• One out of every five healthcare dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes.

“This underscores the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Diabetes becomes much more costly in financial and human terms when the disease is not properly treated,” said to Ann L. Albright, PhD, RD, president of healthcare and education at ADA.

The study pegged the economic impact of indirect costs of diabetes to be $58 billion when accounting for reduced productivity of both those in the labor force, unpaid workers, unemployment from disease-related disability, and increased absenteeism.

An additional six million people are believed to have yet undiagnosed diabetes, hiking the actual cost of diabetes beyond $174 billion, according to the study.