Comments on: Cost of diabetes treatment has doubled in 6 years. Is anyone surprised? http://onthepharm.net/2008/10/cost-of-diabetes-doubled-in-6-years.html Life on the pharm Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:06:35 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: RJS http://onthepharm.net/2008/10/cost-of-diabetes-doubled-in-6-years.html/comment-page-1#comment-181902 RJS Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:54:19 +0000 http://onthepharm.net/?p=431#comment-181902 Hi Cathy, thanks for stopping by. I've been reading your comments on JP's blog for a while now. You've raised some good points and questions, and I want to think about and try to formulate a more complete post tonight or tomorrow. There are a few economic considerations I want to think about and research before I write further. Hi Cathy, thanks for stopping by. I've been reading your comments on JP's blog for a while now. You've raised some good points and questions, and I want to think about and try to formulate a more complete post tonight or tomorrow. There are a few economic considerations I want to think about and research before I write further.

]]> By: Cathy Lane RPh http://onthepharm.net/2008/10/cost-of-diabetes-doubled-in-6-years.html/comment-page-1#comment-181901 Cathy Lane RPh Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:09:38 +0000 http://onthepharm.net/?p=431#comment-181901 Hello, I'd imagine costs for DM2 care had risen, like everything else, but was surprised to hear the thoughts about public health & nationalized health insurance. It's been a long time since I took a public health class, but I'd been under the impression that they were cut from the same cloth. Now, that I think of it, I don't hear about Medicaid paying for diabetes education, but then, I'm not familiar with who utilizes the program, and who pays for it, whether Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurers would reimburse the provider for diabetes classes. Occasionally I 'sub' for the diabetes pharmacist in hospital practices at very small non-profit county hospitals in the Great Lakes region. From what I seen of programs, diabetes educators try to get newly diagnosed patients out the door with insulin pen products, and have patients return for oral treatment options after dietary and exercise effects are realized. Pens are expensive, but acceptance is so much better than the old 'fear of needles' routine. When you speak of $1 for public health are you saying 'education & prevention'. If so, I would agree conceptually. There are probably long-term studies that prove this beyond a doubt. And, so I'd venture your point is that any successful nationalized healthcare insurance-type or other type of program would need to incorporate a preventive arm with incentives for greater self-care. A lot of the obesity problem has to do with not bucking the current socially acceptable behaviors, i.e. too much availability of nutritionally cheap food, devaluation of importance of physical effort and exercise, sedentary lifestyle, plus knowledge deficits about foods and hidden human costs. Look at what happened when NYC banned trans fats, for example. I think the fallout will be realized in our lifetime, with a slowly falling domino effect. Tell more about what your point is. It sounds interesting. Hello, I'd imagine costs for DM2 care had risen, like everything else, but was surprised to hear the thoughts about public health & nationalized health insurance. It's been a long time since I took a public health class, but I'd been under the impression that they were cut from the same cloth. Now, that I think of it, I don't hear about Medicaid paying for diabetes education, but then, I'm not familiar with who utilizes the program, and who pays for it, whether Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurers would reimburse the provider for diabetes classes.

Occasionally I 'sub' for the diabetes pharmacist in hospital practices at very small non-profit county hospitals in the Great Lakes region. From what I seen of programs, diabetes educators try to get newly diagnosed patients out the door with insulin pen products, and have patients return for oral treatment options after dietary and exercise effects are realized. Pens are expensive, but acceptance is so much better than the old 'fear of needles' routine.

When you speak of $1 for public health are you saying 'education & prevention'. If so, I would agree conceptually. There are probably long-term studies that prove this beyond a doubt.

And, so I'd venture your point is that any successful nationalized healthcare insurance-type or other type of program would need to incorporate a preventive arm with incentives for greater self-care. A lot of the obesity problem has to do with not bucking the current socially acceptable behaviors, i.e. too much availability of nutritionally cheap food, devaluation of importance of physical effort and exercise, sedentary lifestyle, plus knowledge deficits about foods and hidden human costs. Look at what happened when NYC banned trans fats, for example. I think the fallout will be realized in our lifetime, with a slowly falling domino effect.

Tell more about what your point is. It sounds interesting.

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