The federal government is directing $10 million over five years to expand a diabetes-prevention program in Minnesota.
The money will allow enrollees in the state's Medical Assistance program to participate in the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program, which has helped patients with commercial insurance in Minnesota and across the country halt the progression of diabetes.
The money comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the federal health insurance programs. Medical Assistance is Minnesota's version of Medicaid.
"This will give us the opportunity to dramatically improve people's health," said Lucinda Jesson, the state's human services commissioner. "Through improving people's health, it's going to enable us to help bend the cost curve."
Last month, Dr. Donald Berwick, the CMS administrator, attended a presentation in St. Paul about the Y's current diabetes-prevention program. It has been supported financially by Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group and is offered to some health-plan members at Minnetonka-based Medica.
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With the expansion, the program will be available to about 2,700 people covered by Medical Assistance who have a pre-diabetes diagnosis or who are at risk of developing the disease. Called the Minnesota Diabetes Prevention Project, the program for Medical Assistance patients will be available starting next year at 30 sites across the metro area.
In the current Y program, insurers identify
patients who are nearing the clinical definition for type 2 diabetes but still can be helped. Patients then meet for weekly group sessions over a 16-week period to learn about portion control, diet and the amount of physical activity needed to halt the progression to diabetes.
Y staff will lead the Medical Assistance version of the program, but at a select group of clinic offices in the Twin Cities, Jesson said. It also will offer incentives to some individual participants and some groups of participants as part of a research project on whether they make a difference in success rates.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
