Reducing diabetes risk in Medicare age individuals

YMCA of the USA and 17 local Ys have been participating in a Health Care Innovation Award (HCIA) project designed to show that an evidence-based prevention program delivered by a community-based organization can lower incidence of type 2 diabetes and reduce medical costs incurred by Medicare. If successful, the program could become a model for how the nation’s largest payer of health care claims reimburses community-based organizations as providers of evidence-based preventive services.  

In partnership with several national and local organizations, the Y is working to engage as many as 6,000 Medicare beneficiaries with prediabetes in the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program. The program has been identified as a promising approach in lowering Medicare expenditures. Research has shown that programs like the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program can reduce incidence of diabetes among Medicare-age individuals by 71 percent (compared to 58 percent for younger individuals). Evidence suggests this lifestyle intervention is more efficacious in older adults than younger participants. This session will articulate the goals of the project and share examples to illustrate the importance of engagement practices as well as participant program outcomes to date.

This project is made possible by funding opportunity number 1C1CMS330965 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The research presented here was conducted by the awardee. These findings may or may not be consistent with or confirmed by the independent evaluation contractor.