Collins unveils bipartisan bill expanding diabetes self-care training

A bipartisan bill recently introduced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) would improve access to diabetes outpatient self-management training services.

“Diabetes self-management training provides Americans living with diabetes with important tools to help them to successfully manage their disease,” Sen. Collins said. “Through education and patient engagement, our bipartisan legislation would lower the cost of healthcare by preventing health complications and avoiding hospitalizations.”

The Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act, S. 2203, which Sen. Collins cosponsored on June 24 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), both co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, would also require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test the provision of virtual diabetes outpatient self-management training services, according to the congressional record bill summary.

Specifically, S. 2203 would expand Medicare coverage for diabetes self-management training sessions in which 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, according to information provided by Sen. Collin’s office. 

Nearly 26 million Americans are afflicted with diabetes and another 79 million have pre-diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that if current trends continue, one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050. 

“I urge my colleagues to join Senator Shaheen and me in supporting this commonsense bill,” said Sen. Collins.