WASHINGTON — People at high risk of developing diabetes lost about 5% of their body weight in a YMCA program that federal regulators said Wednesday was successful enough to expand.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave YMCAs nearly $12 million in 2011 to launch the program, which includes nutrition and fitness counseling and lifestyle coaching for Medicare recipients.
The funding was provided by the Affordable Care Act, which also marked its 6th anniversary Wednesday. Speaking at a YMCA here as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in yet another Supreme Court challenge to the law, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said it was a fitting day to talk about going from "treating the sick to preventing the illness." About 20 million people have gained coverage since the law was enacted.
"Our world class medicine in our country hasn't translated to the best health," said Burwell. "With the help of the ACA...we're working to make our system smarter to where we pay for what works and spend our healthcare dollars more wisely."
CMS' actuaries certified the YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program would more than pay for itself for Medicare if the YMCA program was expanded, saving $2,650 per participant over 15 months. CMS plans to include details about how it could expand the program in its 2017 Medicare fee schedule for doctors, which should be out this summer.
Burwell said she also hopes the results give employers and insurers enough evidence to convince them to begin paying for diabetes prevention programs.
About 30 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, which leads to two deaths every five minutes in this country, CMS said. One in three adults has pre-diabetes, which means their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not so high they are diabetic, but that they are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. They are also at greater risk of heart disease and stroke.
Edna Waller, 69, convinced two groups of women who were also on Medicare to join the diabetes prevention program at her Delaware YMCA. It wasn't easy.
"We women tend to want to take care of others rather than ourselves," says Waller, who went down three dress sizes on the program and no longer needs her diabetes medication.
