Diabetes-related hospitalization is a burden for California system

•  Public employees retirement system alone spent $1.6 billion a year in health care services

•  Pilot program launched to increase preventive measures

SACRAMENTO, California — A study by the California Center  for Public Health Advocacy found that diabetes patients account for one-in-three hospitalizations in California.

The study highlights the growing and costly problem of diabetes on patients, the health care system, budgets and taxpayers, State Controller John Chiang stated.

“Investing in prevention and wellness strategies that keep people healthier now can help to reduce the demand for medical care and the drain on budgets in the future,” Chiang noted.

A board member of California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), Chiang has called for prevention and wellness strategies to lower CalPERS’ health care costs and save taxpayer dollars. He commissioned a 2012 study by the Urban Institute and funded by The California Endowment on CalPERS’ health costs related to preventable conditions.

Chiang initiated a three-year state employee wellness pilot program -– in partnership with SEIU Local 1000, the California Department of Human Resources, CalPERS, the State Treasurer’s Office, and Kaiser Permanente –- to identify ways to improve employee health and bend the cost curve for conditions preventable through diet and exercise.

The pilot, Healthier U, is being conducted at the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services, whose employee populations are reflective of the demographics and general health conditions of state employees.