[/caption]Carol Forsloff - According to a study reported in the June edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association diabetic kidney disease is on the rise in the United States, even though diabetes care has improved, which is reflective of concerns about the cost of this disease in the future.
Kidney disease from diabetes is at its highest point in 50 years, according to the report. Medications to lower blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol have advanced, however the number of diabetics in the population has grown and so has the rate of kidney disease.
The medical advances have not slowed down the rate of kidney disease, in spite of improvements in medications. It accounts for nearly half of the cases of end-stage kidney failure in America at a cost of $26.8 billion in Medicare funds.
The University of Washington narrative tells us that within five years more than half of all persons with end-stage kidney disease will die. Even a mild case of the disease can significantly impact a person’s health and raise health care costs. In fact, the researchers maintain the rate of growth, and absolute number of cases found, are likely underestimated.
The study was supported in part by the UW Institute for Translational Health Sciences, part of the University’s ongoing research programs.
2011 national statistics on diabetes shows that during the period 2005-2008 more than a third of the adult population of the United States has pre-diabetes and half of those over age 65.
“Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the United States,” sums up the future for health care in America, as diabetes is outlined as a disease on the rise with its impact on the finances of the country and the health of its citizens at great cost to the nation’s future.
Projecting the date at which the Medicare funds will be exhausted is based upon income revenues. It is, according to the report issued in 2010, estimated to be exhausted in 2024, which is five years earlier than it had been projected. Even so, the current administration’s report further states that the fund itself is not adequately funded over the next 10 years, as H1 taxable earnings in the year 2010 were lower than previously determined. The rate of growth of these earnings, however, is expected to rise.
But will the rate of growth of H1 earnings, those earnings that fund Medicare, be able to overcome the rising costs of health care and the growing rate of serious diseases like diabetes? These unknown factors continue to be examined, as Medicare funds are imperiled by a number of serious concerns.
