WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
As the nation marks American Diabetes Month, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
released a new report today, Preventing and Treating Diabetes: Health Insurance
Reform and Diabetes in America.The report comes one day after Sebelius toured
the East Manatee Family Healthcare Center in Bradenton, Fla. At the center,
Sebelius met with patients and Floridians who care for people with diabetes.
"Americans with diabetes are suffering in our current health care system," said
Sebelius. "Health insurance reform will help ensure these Americans can get the
prescription drugs and supplies they need and bring down premiums so all
Americans can have high-quality, affordable health insurance."
As affordable treatment remains inaccessible to many Americans suffering from
chronic diseases, people with diabetes shoulder some of the nation`s highest
health care expenses. The report notes:
* One in six individuals with diabetes report avoiding or delaying needed
medical care because of cost. Annual health care expenses for a diabetic topped
$11,477 in 2007. A box of 100 test strips for blood sugar monitors can cost up
to $60 while the price of a vial of insulin can range from $30 to $70, mainly
because generic brands are not manufactured in the United States.
* A study showed that 80 percent of people with diabetes went uninsured after
having lost coverage due to health insurance transitions triggered by job change
or layoff, a move, divorce, graduation from college, or a change in income or
health status.
* If all states improved diabetes control to the level of the top four best
performing states, at least 39,000 fewer patients would have been admitted for
uncontrolled diabetes in 2004, potentially saving $216.7 million.
* Fourteen percent of American Indians, 12 percent of African Americans, and 10
percent of Hispanics have type 2 diabetes. These rates of diabetes are greater
than in the non-Hispanic white population, which has a rate of only 7 percent.
The report outlines the ways health insurance reform will lower costs and
improve access to quality health care services for Americans with diabetes.
Health insurance reform will lower health care costs for people with diabetes by
capping annual out-of-pocket expenses, eliminate discrimination for pre-existing
conditions and health status, create a health insurance exchange so families can
shop for suitable plans, provide coverage for preventive screenings, and reduce
health disparities so that all Americans can have access to quality, affordable
health care.
To learn more about how health insurance reform will help Americans with
diabetes and view the complete report, visit www.HealthReform.gov.
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343
Copyright Business Wire 2009
