The U.S. government has taken a huge step toward preventing type 2 diabetes in people who are considered to be high risk by announcing its plan to expand a Medicare program that was highly successful in a small trial.
The program, The Diabetes Prevention Program, which was created as a part of the Affordable Care Act, was effective at helping people lose weight, which ended up reducing their risk of developing full-blown diabetes.
"This program has been shown to reduce health care costs and help prevent diabetes, and is one that Medicare, employers and private insurers can use to help 86 million Americans live healthier," said Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). "The Affordable Care Act gave Medicare the tools to support this groundbreaking effort and to expand this program more broadly. Today's announcement is a milestone for prevention and America's health."
The Diabetes Prevention Program was tested out in eight states on about 6,000 participants for 15 months. Participants were required to attend weekly meetings with a lifestyle coach who educated them about the benefits of making long-term lifestyle changes ranging from changing up their diets to increasing their physical activity levels.
At the end of the trial, the HHS, who had provided the $11.8 million grant to the YMCA to enforce the program, reported that the majority of the people, 37.5 percent, had completed nine to 16 sessions. Overall, participants lost around 5 percent of their body weight, with an average weight loss of 4.73 pounds in participants who had attended at least four sessions.
Not only did the program help Medicare beneficiaries lose weight, it also saved them money. The HHS reported that the estimated savings per participant was $2,650 over the course of the program.
"The Diabetes Prevention Program can prevent disease and help people live healthier lives," said Dr. Patrick Conway, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) deputy administrator and chief medical officer. "CMS' partnership with CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], NIH [National Institutes of Health] and private sector partners to engage people in improving their own health was critical to the success of the Diabetes Prevention Program. We are now working to determine the best strategies for incorporating the Diabetes Prevention Program into Medicare."
The American Diabetes Association also praised the government's efforts.
"The Association has spent the last eight years diligently advocating for Medicare coverage of the National DPP, and today's announcement is a powerful endorsement of the value of preventive health care for people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes," said Kevin L. Hagan, chief executive officer for the American Diabetes Association. "The evidence shared today confirms the National DPP delivers cost savings to individuals who are at risk for developing diabetes and to our health care economy. Most importantly, the National DPP showed improved health outcomes for participating individuals, demonstrating that interventions like the National DPP can help prevent many of our country's seniors from developing type 2 diabetes and its horrible complications, which can include blindness, amputation, heart disease, stroke and kidney failure."
If the program can be implemented successfully on a national scale, rates of new diabetes cases should decline. The CDC currently estimates that by 2050, if nothing is done, one in three Americans could be diagnosed with diabetes.
