Trends and Costs Associated with the Concerning Rise of Type 2 Diabetes and Comorbidities in Young People

Background: For more than two decades, an epidemic of obesity in the United States has been linked to rising rates of type 2 diabetes. Both conditions have been increasing among the nation’s youth. The increase in type 2 diabetes among young people portends many decades of treatment of the disease and its complications for a larger population than previously known, with all the attendant cost in healthcare resources. This study will analyze the cost to our healthcare system of the rise of type 2 diabetes in today’s youth.

Methods: We analyzed data from our FAIR Health database of billions of privately billed healthcare claims to identify trends and patterns from 2011 to 2015 in obesity, type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related conditions in the nation’s privately insured pediatric population (0-22 years of age). We will perform further data analytics to study claims through 2017 and their associated healthcare costs.

Results: As obesity rates have increased in children, adolescents and young adults, our data show that type 2 diabetes also has increased in that population. The percent of claim lines with an obesity diagnosis increased annually in all age groups, from infants and toddlers to adults. In the age group 19 to 22 years, the increase in obesity claim lines was 154 percent. During the same period, the percent of claim lines with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis more than doubled in the pediatric population, increasing 109 percent. In most pediatric age groups, claim lines with an obesity diagnosis were more common for females than males, but claim lines with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis were more common for males than females. Claim lines for two obesity-related conditions, obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension, rose in the pediatric population by 161 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

Using both charge and allowed amount data, we will compare the healthcare costs of pediatric patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to those of all pediatric patients. As an indicator of the future healthcare costs of this young generation diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as it matures into adulthood, we also will compare the healthcare costs of adult patients with type 2 diabetes to those of all adult patients.

Conclusions: Type 2 diabetes associated with obesity in young people has been growing significantly; this study will document its economic impact on the healthcare system. That impact in the form of increasing healthcare costs will likely grow as this generation matures. By understanding the scope of this problem, payors, providers, government officials and policy makers can be better prepared to address and mitigate this public health issue of growing concern.