Ten U.S. States Will See Highest Diabetes Prevalence and Cost

A new study conducted by the Institute for Alternative Futures and funded by Novo Nordisk highlighted the top 10 U.S. states that are labeled as “diabetes hot spots” and are projected to carry the brunt of the epidemic over the next 15 years. The IAF diabetes model projected that the overall number of people in the U.S. living with diabetes will increase 64% by 2025 to 53.1 million, or 1-in-7 Americans. In turn, the medical and societal cost of diabetes will be almost $514 billion, a 72% increase from 2010, IAF said. Breaking down the statistics, IAF projected the following states will carry the biggest diabetes burden: California: Projected cost of $63.63 billion, 6.6 million people with diabetes; Texas: Projected cost of $52.17 billion; 5.5 million people with diabetes; Florida: Projected cost of $40.43 billion; 4.2 million people with diabetes; New York: Projected cost of $28.38 billion; 2.9 million people with diabetes; Ohio: Projected cost of $19.76 billion; 2.1 million people with diabetes; Illinois: Projected cost of $19.67 billion; 2 million people with diabetes; Georgia: Projected cost of $19.54 billion; 2 million people with diabetes; Pennsylvania: Projected cost of $18.37 billion; 1.9 million people with diabetes; North Carolina: Projected cost of $17.91 billion; 1.9 million people with diabetes; and Michigan: Projected cost of $15.85 billion; 1.6 million people with diabetes. Currently the 10 states carry nearly 60% of diabetes-related costs. See this week’s Tool for your Practice.