Diabetes Prevention Amendment to Health Reform Bill Introduced

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Amendment Will Reduce the Number of New Diabetes Cases

Washington, D.C. -- Dec 4, 2009 – Today, U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordability Act that will reduce the number of new diabetes cases in the United States, resulting in significant health care savings and better health for Americans.

“The best way to become a healthier country with lower health care costs is to prevent Americans from ever becoming sick in the first place,” said Sen. Franken. “24 million American adults have diabetes and this costs more than $174 billion each year to treat. Another 57 million Americans have pre-diabetes, which is a reversible condition. If we can intervene before these Americans develop full-blown diabetes, we will save billions of dollars and avoid the burden of diabetes for millions of Americans. This bill will help communities across the country to set up diabetes prevention programs—on Indian reservations, in rural areas, and urban centers. And, ultimately, health insurance companies will be reimbursing for these services. Because prevention saves money and it saves lives.”

"Prevention is one of the easiest and most effective components of a healthy lifestyle," Sen. Lugar said. "This bill will establish a grant program for community groups to work with at-risk individuals before they have diabetes, through physical fitness and other healthy habits, with the goal of improving the quality of life for millions of Americans while saving our country billions of dollars in health care costs."

Research shows more than half of new Type 2 Diabetes cases can be avoided by weight loss of just 11 to 15 pounds. Studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health have shown that participating in structured lifestyle intervention programs can help pre-diabetics make enduring changes to exercise and diet, reducing their risk of developing diabetes by nearly 60 percent – at an annual cost of less than $300. These evidence-based programs are provided in partnership with community organizations like the YMCA that have been trained to deliver the program, keeping costs to a minimum and providing a great return on investment.

Senators Franken and Lugar have introduced the Diabetes Prevention amendment, which enables the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to replicate these evidence-based community interventions across the country.

The Diabetes Prevention amendment provides:

· Grants for diabetes prevention model sites for those at high risk for diabetes. These grants will assist community-based diabetes prevention (CDP) programs working with health care delivery systems to identify, refer, and provide those at high risk for diabetes with cost-effective, group-based lifestyle intervention programs.

· Development of a recognition program for eligible entities to serve as community-based diabetes prevention programs. The CDC will require each program to provide a description, ensure adequate training, and agree to submit data for outcome evaluation.

· Creation of a training and outreach program. The CDC will develop curriculum and training for lifestyle intervention in partnership with state diabetes programs, academic institutions, and community-based nonprofits.

· Quality assurance for community-based diabetes prevention model site and for other CDC recognized CDP sites. The CDC will provide evaluation, monitoring, and technical assistance to each CDP program. A public registry of the CDC-recognized programs will be established.

· Applied research grants to advance the national strategy for community-based programs, improve communication strategies for high-risk communities, and examine model benefit and payment designs for diabetes care.

Source: Senator Al Franken