Newswise — The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) filed public comments recently on a proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide education on how to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes via the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP). In the comments, AADE urges CMS to include telehealth and other online platforms as a covered service for Medicare beneficiaries. Allowing access to a virtual MDPP supplier would give beneficiaries, many of whom are seniors who travel to warmer climates in the winter, the ability to keep the same provider and achieve greater results.  

“We are ecstatic that CMS has committed to moving forward with the MDPP,” said AADE Vice President of Science and Practice Leslie Kolb, “Thanks to the potential for additional coverage, the opportunity exists to help thousands avoid or delay a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. We hope that CMS will consider looking at what works for Medicare beneficiaries, like virtual online platforms, and take it into account for a final rule.”

In July, CMS released the 2018 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) asking for comments. AADE is one of six organizations under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to scale and sustain the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP). This puts AADE in a unique position to share learnings from implementing diabetes prevention services.   

Expansion of Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program

In its comments, AADE asked CMS to consider the following:

  • Establish a process for continued testing of program changes that could improve beneficiary access and progress toward MDPP clinical goals and program savings. 
  • Include telehealth as a covered service, interchangeable with in-person delivery in this current rule.
  • Reconsider the distribution of payments over the course of the program compared to the burden and the risk of the MDPP supplier. AADE is concerned with programs being able to justify becoming an MDPP supplier based on the payment schedule.   

Read the comments in full: www.diabeteseducator.org/cms-comment.

 

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