AMA Diabetes-Related Policy

H-65.975 Discrimination Against Persons with Diabetes
 
Our AMA opposes: (1) forcing insulin requiring/dependent persons with diabetes to remove themselves from public view to administer injections; and (2) discrimination against persons with diabetes in both public and work places. (Res. 510, A-05)

H-160.938 Disease-Specific Self-Management Programs
 
The AMA: (1) will work with invited medical groups to promote the physician-led team approach to disease-specific patient care as providing the highest quality of patient care; (2) insists that evidence-based disease -specific (eg, diabetes and asthma) education services and self-management training be initiated and continued under the direction of a physician; (3) believes all changes of care or medications by members of the team should be supervised by a physician; (4) will seek to have physician-directed benefits of evidence-based disease-specific education and self-management training provided to the beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid, other publicly supported programs, and all other payers; and (5) believes that status reports and all changes made by the disease-specific self-management team be transmitted in a timely fashion to the primary care physician, if the primary care physician is not the supervisor of the management team. (Sub. Res. 515, I-96; Amended by CSA Rep. 4, A-98)

H-330.904 Lack of Medicare Coverage for Lipid and Diabetes Screening
 
Our AMA supports dialogue with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Congress to cover screening lipid profiles and blood sugars to prevent complications of lipid disorders and diabetes, where such screening is consistent with evidence-based medicine. (Res. 120, I-01)

H-440.902 Obesity as a Major Health Concern
 
The AMA: (1) recognizes obesity in children and adults as a major public health problem; (2) will study the medical, psychological and socioeconomic issues associated with obesity, including reimbursement for evaluation and management of obese patients; (3) will work with other professional medical organizations, and other public and private organizations to develop evidence-based recommendations regarding education, prevention, and treatment of obesity; (4) recognizes that racial and ethnic disparities exist in the prevalence of obesity and diet-related diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes and recommends that physicians use culturally responsive care to improve the treatment and management of obesity and diet-related diseases in minority populations; and (5) supports the use of cultural and socioeconomic considerations in all nutritional and dietary research and guidelines in order to treat overweight and obese patients. (Res. 423, A-98; Reaffirmed and Appended: BOT Rep. 6, A-04)

D-70.994 Additional ICD Codes for Diabetes Related Conditions
 
Our AMA ask the National Center for Health Statistics to develop ICD codes for these diabetes related conditions: Impaired Fasting Glucose, Impaired Glucose Homeostasis, and Impaired Glucose Tolerance. (Res. 807, A-00)

D-150.992 Labeling of Nitrite Content of Processed Foods
 
Our AMA will support the current Food and Drug Administration and United States Department of Agriculture regulations, including current labeling requirements, for nitrites in food, and will encourage continued research and surveillance of the safety of nitrite use in foods, with particular attention to its possible effects on type 1 diabetes. (CSA Rep. 9, A-04)

D-330.935 Promoting the Utilization of New and Old Medicare Preventive Services Benefits
 
Our AMA will: (1) collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including appropriate medical specialty societies, state and county medical societies, relevant federal agencies, the Partnership for Prevention, and other interested parties to actively promote to the public and the profession the value of the Welcome to Medicare Visit, the Tobacco Cessation Benefit, and other Medicare-covered preventive services; (2) in these collaborative efforts, emphasize reaching underserved populations, including those individuals who have had limited or no health insurance prior to reaching Medicare age; (3) in partnership with other stakeholders, encourage the development and dissemination of educational resources to assist physicians in incorporating evidence-based preventive measures into their daily practice and in efficiently implementing the Welcome to Medicare Visit, the Tobacco Cessation Benefit, and other Medicare preventive services as part of an overall prevention approach; (4) work with the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society and other interested specialty societies to seek replacement of the Medicare G-codes for tobacco cessation counseling with CPT codes, as well as their appropriate valuation through the RUC process; (5) support the expansion of an evidence-based Welcome to Medicare Visit benefit to cover anytime within the first year of enrollment in Medicare Part B and to provide first-dollar coverage of the preventive visit and required tests (i.e., no requirement for prior deductible or co-payments); and (6) work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and interested medical societies to create a process involving not-for-profit voluntary health organizations (e.g., the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association) to address the physician barriers to use of the Welcome to Medicare Visit, including the appropriate use of evidence-based preventive services. (BOT Rep. 8, I-06)

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