Introduction: The study details the experiences of Medicare, Medicaid and privately insured patients with diabetes in the United States by focusing on how these distinct populations perceive their disease and manage their treatment.
Methods: A national survey was fielded among a representative sample of 2,307 US adult diagnosed diabetes patients to investigate demographic, lifestyle, treatment, access to information, and socioeconomic status. This was achieved using a combination of telephone-based interviews and internet-based questionnaires administered via KnowledgePanel®, the only large-scale online panel based on a representative random sample of the US population.
Results: Patients with Medicaid-based insurance face significant differences in diagnosis, treatment and intensity of their diabetes as compared to their Medicare and privately insured counterparts. Medicaid patients develop diabetes at an earlier age with an increased level of severity, and face significant socioeconomic concerns. Medicaid patients also have different health information seeking preferences than their counterparts, impacted by technology use patterns and education preferences. All groups report challenges in paying for their diabetes care, though cost-sharing requirements are relatively low.
Conclusions: Significant variation in experience between Medicaid, Medicare, and privately insured patients can inform disease management and patient engagement strategies. Payers, clinicians and public health agencies can leverage these findings to design initiatives more effectively and understand how intergroup variability impacts program uptake and disease outcomes.