This Disease Hikes Health Care Costs By More than $10,000 a Year
Medical professionals and economists have been worried about the growing prevalence of diabetes for years. A new report shows their concerns are well placed. In 2013, the per capita health care bills of consumers with diabetes was $15,000, nearly 71 percent ($10,700) higher than those without the disease, according to the Healthcare Cost Institute.
The brunt of those bills are borne by health care providers, but consumers with diabetes have per capita out-of-pocket costs of $1,922, compared to just $738 for those who do not have diabetes.
For those under the age of 65, health care expenses grew an average 4.1 percent from 2012 to 2013, but the increase was even higher among children, who saw expenses rise 7 percent from 2011 to 2012 and then another 9.6 percent from 2012 to 2013.
Related: Diabetes Detection Up in Pro-Obamacare States
“There has been extraordinary growth in health spending for children with diabetes,” HCCI senior research Amanda Frost said in a statement, citing branded insulin as one factor in the increase.
For children, the costs go beyond medication. A 2012 study in Health Affairs found that people who develop diabetes before age 30 make less money than their peers, are more likely to drop out of high school and less likely to attend college.
One of the most widespread chronic diseases in the United States, diabetes care consumes about 10 percent of U.S. health care spending, according to a study by the University of Michigan.
Chart of the Day: SALT in the GOP’s Wounds
The stark and growing divide between urban/suburban and rural districts was one big story in this year’s election results, with Democrats gaining seats in the House as a result of their success in suburban areas. The GOP tax law may have helped drive that trend, Yahoo Finance’s Brian Cheung notes.
The new tax law capped the amount of state and local tax deductions Americans can claim in their federal filings at $10,000. Congressional seats for nine of the top 25 districts where residents claim those SALT deductions were held by Republicans heading into Election Day. Six of the nine flipped to the Democrats in last week’s midterms.
Chart of the Day: Big Pharma's Big Profits
Ten companies, including nine pharmaceutical giants, accounted for half of the health care industry's $50 billion in worldwide profits in the third quarter of 2018, according to an analysis by Axios’s Bob Herman. Drug companies generated 23 percent of the industry’s $636 billion in revenue — and 63 percent of the total profits. “Americans spend a lot more money on hospital and physician care than prescription drugs, but pharmaceutical companies pocket a lot more than other parts of the industry,” Herman writes.
Chart of the Day: Infrastructure Spending Over 60 Years
Federal, state and local governments spent about $441 billion on infrastructure in 2017, with the money going toward highways, mass transit and rail, aviation, water transportation, water resources and water utilities. Measured as a percentage of GDP, total spending is a bit lower than it was 50 years ago. For more details, see this new report from the Congressional Budget Office.
Number of the Day: $3.3 Billion
The GOP tax cuts have provided a significant earnings boost for the big U.S. banks so far this year. Changes in the tax code “saved the nation’s six biggest banks $3.3 billion in the third quarter alone,” according to a Bloomberg report Thursday. The data is drawn from earnings reports from Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
Clarifying the Drop in Obamacare Premiums
We told you Thursday about the Trump administration’s announcement that average premiums for benchmark Obamacare plans will fall 1.5 percent next year, but analyst Charles Gaba says the story is a bit more complicated. According to Gaba’s calculations, average premiums for all individual health plans will rise next year by 3.1 percent.
The difference between the two figures is produced by two very different datasets. The Trump administration included only the second-lowest-cost Silver plans in 39 states in its analysis, while Gaba examined all individual plans sold in all 50 states.