WASHINGTON – People with diabetes still carry some of the United State’s highest healthcare expenses, according to a report released by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

"Americans with diabetes are suffering in our current healthcare system," she said. "Health insurance reform will help ensure these Americans can get the prescription drugs and supplies they need and bring down premiums so all Americans can have high-quality, affordable health insurance."

Affordable treatment remains inaccessible to many Americans suffering from chronic diseases. The report, “Preventing and Treating Diabetes: Health Insurance Reform and Diabetes in America,” outlines the ways in which health insurance reform will lower costs and improve access to quality healthcare services for Americans with diabetes.

Reform would be expected to lower healthcare costs for people with diabetes by capping annual out-of-pocket expenses, eliminating discrimination for pre-existing conditions and health status, creating a health insurance exchange so families can shop for suitable plans, provideing coverage for preventive screenings and reducing health disparities.

Other findings in the report include:

• One in six individuals with diabetes reported avoiding or delaying needed medical care because of cost. Annual healthcare expenses for a diabetic topped $11,477 in 2007.
• About 80 percent of people with diabetes went uninsured after having lost coverage due to health insurance.
• If all states improved diabetes control to the level of the top four best-performing states, at least 39,000 fewer patients would have been admitted for uncontrolled diabetes in 2004, potentially saving $216.7 million.
• A box of 100 test strips for blood sugar monitors can cost up to $60 while the price of a vial of insulin can range from $30 to $70, mainly because generic brands are not manufactured in the United States.
• 14 percent of American Indians, 12 percent of African Americans and 10 percent of Hispanics have Type 2 diabetes. These rates are greater than in the non-Hispanic white population, which has a rate of only 7 percent.