A newly introduced Medicare bill could help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by more than one-third. The Medicare Diabetes Prevention Act would require Medicare to cover services provided under the evidence-based National Diabetes Prevention Program. The bill was introduced Thursday to the U.S. Senate by Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and to the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Susan Davis, D-Calif. A study released last year on the bill estimated that the legislation would help reduce the cumulative rate of type 2 diabetes in the Medicare population by an estimated 37 percent after a decade, resulting in nearly 1 million fewer cases of diabetes among seniors by 2024. The study also found that the bill could reduce federal spending by $1.3 billion over 10 years.
Solutions to the problem
Every year, the number of people who develop prediabetes, the precursor to type 2 diabetes, increases, rising by about 51 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to a December study published in Diabetes Care. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Diabetes Prevention Program based on research led by the National Institutes of Health, which showed that individuals at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes who participated in structured lifestyle change programs saw a significant reduction in the incidence of the disease.
To help physicians and care teams address the growing prevalence of prediabetes, the AMA’s Improving Health Outcomes initiative and the CDC recently announced a call to take urgent action with Prevent Diabetes STAT: Screen, Test, Act – Today™. The multi-year initiative will help physicians refer patients to diabetes prevention programs in their communities or online.
Meanwhile, the AMA spent the past year working with the YMCA of the USA and 11 physician practice pilot sites in four states to increase physician screening and testing for prediabetes, and referral of patients with prediabetes to diabetes prevention programs offered by local YMCAs, which use the CDC’s program. Medicare beneficiaries were able to participate in this program at no cost, thanks to an award from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
“Prediabetes is a serious medical condition in our country that must be addressed. With more than 50 percent of America's seniors currently at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, we must act now to ensure our nation's seniors have access to these proven diabetes prevention programs,” AMA President Robert M. Wah, MD, said.
“We urge Congress to join us in tackling this public health epidemic that continues to strain our health care system and act swiftly to cover these important programs under Medicare,” Dr. Wah said. Learn more about diabetes prevention programs and the AMA’s Improving Health Outcomes initiative at AMA Wire®.
