Diabetes treatment costs remain a leading health plan and health care cost driver.
Approximately one in four U.S. health care dollars (about 25%) is spent on people with diagnosed diabetes. Of this amount, about 61% of the costs are directly attributable to diabetes itself, with the remainder being general medical costs.
For 2021–2022, treating diabetes among U.S. adults cost an estimated $153.2 billion each year. The average cost per person receiving care was $5,810 per year, with prescription medicines accounting for more than 80 percent of the total.
A recent statistical brief based on data from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) highlights these costs and how the prevalence of treated diabetes varies by age, income, insurance coverage, and type of care. The report also breaks down spending by service and payment source, offering a closer look at the financial impact of diabetes treatment.
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