Shaheen, Collins Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Expand Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training and Lower Treatment Costs
**Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Access to Services That Improve Wellness & Reduce Risk of Diabetes-Related Death or Heart Attack for Diabetic Patients**
(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME), co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, reintroduced the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act. This bipartisan legislation would expand Medicare coverage for diabetes self-management training (DSMT) sessions, where diabetes educators help train Medicare patients on how to manage their glucose, maintain a healthy weight, eat healthy foods, manage their insulin levels and improve general care for their diabetes. DSMT is associated with a reduction in risk for diabetes-related death and heart attack and, importantly, leads to improved self-care behavior and wellness, which greatly reduces hospital care costs.
“Diabetes is a lifelong condition that affects millions of Americans. Expanding access to diabetes self-management training will allow patients to improve their well-being and live healthier lives while being more self-sufficient in their care,” said Senator Shaheen. “Our bipartisan legislation would lower the cost of treatment for patients with diabetes and I’m proud to work across the aisle to continue supporting diabetes treatment, research and investment.”
“Diabetes self-management training equips Americans with diabetes with the tools they need to successfully manage their disease,” said Senator Collins. “By supporting education and patient engagement, our bipartisan bill would improve health outcomes, enhance quality of life, and reduce health care costs by helping to prevent complications and hospitalizations.”
“The Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (ADCES) applauds and thanks our champions, Senators Shaheen and Collins, for introducing legislation that would improve access to diabetes care and education for Medicare beneficiaries,” said ADCES President Veronica Brady, PhD, RN, FNP-P, BC-ADM, CDCES. “DSMT services help individuals with diabetes improve their health and reduce complications which in turn can decrease health care costs.”??
38.4 million Americans live with diabetes and 1 in 3 adults have prediabetes, a condition that is known to progress to diabetes without early intervention, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and can lead to many other chronic diseases and conditions, such as blindness and kidney failure. As one of the most expensive chronic diseases, diabetes costs the American health care system billions of dollars each year. Overall, one in every ten health care dollars is spent on diabetes and its complications, and one in every three Medicare dollars is spent on the condition.
Earlier this week, Shaheen and Collins introduced the Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act, new legislation that would improve care for patients with diabetes by allowing nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates/physician assistants (PAs)—who often act as sole primary care providers for many patients with diabetes—to prescribe therapeutic shoes.
As co-chairs of the U.S. Senate Diabetes Caucus, Shaheen and Collins have led action in the U.S. Senate to advance priorities that will lower the costs of insulin, invest in treatment and prioritize diabetes research. Their bipartisan Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act would comprehensively address the skyrocketing costs of insulin, removing barriers to care and making it more accessible for millions more Americans.? The Senators have also pushed for passage of their bicameral, bipartisan Strengthening Collective Resources for Encouraging Education Needed (SCREEN) for Type 1 Diabetes Act, to improve early detection and screening for type 1 diabetes.
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