US Congress wants to tackle chronic disease—digital diabetes startups are one step ahead

The news: The chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, Rep. Diana Degette, pressured Congress to fully fund a new health research agency, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), to tackle intractable diseases like diabetes and cancer.

Why it matters: Around 11% (34 million) of the US population has diabetes—and that number is growing.

• There are 1.5 million new cases of diabetes every year in the US, per the American Diabetes Association.

Market snapshot: Digital diabetes startups can play a role in the efforts for mitigating the growing diabetes epidemic in the US. Many of them address preventing diabetes at its early stages and managing it through digital therapies that cultivate lifestyle and behavioral changes.