Obamacare not enough? Low income diabetic patients not getting eye exams

Diabetes is a disease that interferes blood flow to the eye which can lead to diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and possibly blindness and with almost 26 million Americans dealing with the disease, it's important for them to receive regular eye exams to diagnose any problems early. However, a recent study found that low income diabetics fail to even get one eye exam a year. Data was collected on 867 diabetic patients who utilize an outpatient clinic in Cooper Green Mercy, Alabama in 2007. 61 percent of the patients were in the low-income bracket with only 33 percent of them having one eye exam a year and 45 percent had only had an exam within two years. In addition, the patients aged 65 and oldWier were more likely to seek eye care than the patients who were younger than 40. The study, which was published in the JAMA Ophthalmology journal online, shed light on the fact that more needs to be done in educating diabetic patients about the importance of regular eye care to minimize complications associated with diabetes and to help diagnose diabetic eye disease at an earlier stage.*