JANUARY 2015
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Preventing, treating diabetes and obesity results in
big cost savings
Chronic diseases
that need to be treated over a lifetime are costly – both in quality of life
and dollars spent for medical care. During the past year, the Alaska Section of Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion worked with two different
organizations to determine if strategies the Section was implementing would
save money over time. Both analyses showed significant cost savings to the
state.
Cost savings related to managing diabetes
In February 2014, the
Section’s Diabetes
Prevention and Control Program examined the cost savings that resulted when
Alaska adults with diabetes participated in a disease management program. Evergreen
Economics analyzed medical care costs of Medicaid recipients with diabetes
who attended a chronic disease self-management program (CDSMP). Evergreen found
a 21.7% reduction in the annual Medicaid spending for Medicaid recipients with
diabetes who attended at least one CDSMP class compared to those recipients
with diabetes who did not attend any CDSMP classes.[1] If all of the
estimated 6,300 adult Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes had attended a CDSMP
course, the total savings to the Medicaid program could have reached $36
million dollars for fiscal year 2014.[1]
Participating in the
disease management program also meant significant improvement in blood sugar
measurements, body mass index and blood pressure among Alaska adults with
diabetes.[1] In addition to supporting disease management programs,
the Section’s diabetes program provides public
education and education programs for professionals, as well as partners
with health care providers and other organizations to reduce the burden of
diabetes in Alaska.
Cost savings related to preventing and reducing childhood obesity
Medical care related
to obesity costs Alaskans $459
million annually.[2] State and federal governments pay for more
than 25% of these costs in the form or Medicare and Medicaid.[3]
Medical care costs are expected to increase. An international research
organization estimates that the direct medical care costs related to treating
the consequences of obesity will represent 20% of all health care expenditures
by 2020.[4]
In fiscal year 2014,
the Section worked with the University of Alaska’s Institute
of Social and Economic Research (ISER) to estimate the return on investment
of preventing and reducing childhood obesity in Alaska. Obesity puts Alaska’s
adults and children at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic
conditions. It also puts stress on their joints, bones and organs.[5]
ISER estimates the medical
cost of childhood obesity will top $625 million dollars over the next 20 years
when considering just the group of children and adolescents who were ages 2 to
19 in 2012 in Alaska.[6] The university’s research institute used this
2012 cohort of children to estimate obesity-related medical costs over 20 years
for that group only.
The study concludes
that reducing obesity rates by 1 percentage point in this 2012 cohort of children
would save nearly $17 million in medical costs over 20 years. Decreasing the
percentage of non-obese kids who become obese adults by 1 percentage point
would save over $14.3 million over 20 years. Dropping the percentage of obese
adolescents who become obese adults would save another $2.9 million.[6]
While there has been
success in decreasing the prevalence of childhood obesity in the Anchorage and
Mat-Su regions[7], progress has stalled. The rate of childhood obesity
in these regions has stabilized and remains high; 16.8% of students in these
communities’ school districts are obese[8] said Karol Fink, director
of the Obesity
Prevention and Control Program (OPCP) for
the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. About 1 out of 3 children in Alaska
are overweight or obese.
There is no single
strategy that works by itself to prevent obesity. For that reason, the Alaska
Obesity Prevention and Control Program supports multiple strategies
that work together to prevent and reduce childhood obesity and reduce medical
care costs now and in the future.
Those strategies
include working with partners to prevent and reduce obesity. OPCP issues grants
to eight
school districts across Alaska to help update the districts’ wellness
policies, increase opportunities for physical activity, and improve the
nutritional quality of the foods available through schools.
For the past three
years, OPCP has run Play Every
Day, the public education campaign that raises awareness about childhood
obesity and motivates Alaska families to be more physically active and choose
healthy drinks for the best health. Play Every Day is a partner of the Healthy Futures program, which runs a
free physical activity challenge in almost 200 elementary schools across
Alaska. OPCP also supports efforts to make fresh
produce, fish and other healthy foods more affordable and accessible to all
Alaskans.
Sources
-
Evergreen Economics. Memorandum to AK Diabetes
Prevention and Control Program, May 30, 2014, Accessed 12/15/2014.
-
Trogdon JG, Finkselstein EA, Feagan CW, Cohen
JW. State- and payer-specific estimates of annual medical expenditures
attributable to obesity. Obesity.
2012;20(1):214-220.
-
Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Cohen JW, Dietz W.
Annual medical spending attributable to obesity: Payer- and service-specific
estimates. Health Affairs.
2009;28(5). w822-w831.
-
RAND Corporation. Obesity and Disability: The Shape of Things to Come. Rand
Corporation: Santa Monica, CA; 2007. Accessed 11-24-2014.
-
U.S. DHHS. The Surgeon General’s Vision for a
Healthy and Fit Nation, U.S. DHHS: Rockville, MD; 2010.
-
Guettabi M. Current
and Future Medical Costs of Childhood Obesity in Alaska. Anchorage, AK:
University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute of Social and Economic Research;
2014.
Accessed 11-26-2014.
-
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Obesity in K-7 Students –Anchorage, Alaska 2003-04 to 2010-11 School Years. MMWR. 2013;62(21):426-430.
-
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Student Weight Status Report for the
Anchorage Metropolitan Area 2013-2014 School Year; 2014. Accessed 11-26-2014.
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