Today, January 23rd 2008, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the members of the congressional diabetes caucus will hold a briefing to announce the annual diabetes cost estimates for 2007. Maybe if you’re in Washington you can drop by and listen to the briefing.
During this briefing, speakers will release staggering new figures about the direct and indirect costs of the disease, and reveal the devastating expense incurred by Americans.
I’ll be interested to see how much the incidence and cost of diabetes has increased. And also whether any new legislation is proposed during the briefing.
Update: The final estimated cost(PDF) for diabetes in 2007 was $174 billion. The US Population last year was about 300,000,000 people. That means the toll of diabetes was about $580 for every person in the US.
If a cure is ever found that would mean that huge amount of money could eventually be put to better uses. Hey, I’d happily take mine as a tax break!
January 23, 2008 at 1:24 pm |
The ADA are really disease mongerers when you think about it. Its not news that type 2 is growing like gangbusters (type 1 is also growing, although seldom acknowledged). And while the statistics look scary and will be widely cited, the reality is that the ADA has failed to take a position on the lack of universal healthcare which is positively reprehensible for an organization which claims to represent the interests of people with diabetes.
Politicians will talk about these numbers for months, but they aren’t likely to change their strategies at all.