Many adults with diabetes have no insurance coverage

Sarah Stark Casagrande, Ph.D., of Social & Scientific Systems Inc. in Silver Spring, and Catherine C. Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda -- both in Maryland, compared health insurance coverage between 2,704 adults with diabetes and 25,008 adults without diabetes.

The researchers found that, overall, 85 percent of all adults aged 18 to 64 years with diabetes and 78 percent of those in the same age range without diabetes had some type of health insurance coverage. People with diabetes were more likely to have Medicare coverage and two health insurance sources and less likely to have private insurance compared to those without diabetes. The high cost of health insurance was the most commonly cited reason for people with diabetes having no health insurance coverage.

"Although the majority of adults 18 to 64 years of age had health insurance coverage, a significant proportion was uninsured (15 percent of those with diabetes and 22 percent of those without). This represented approximately two million adults 18 to 64 years of age with diabetes who were not insured, approximately 5 percent of the total uninsured population in the United States," the authors write. "This is a large public health concern given that the diabetic population needs routine care to prevent serious diabetes-related complications."

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Journal reference: Diabetes Care

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