Diabetes patients deserve improved access to care, says McSally

A Medicare beneficiary’s access to the life-improving expanded Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) model must not be determined solely by the zip code in which the person lives, said U.S. Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and a bipartisan group of senators last week.

“Furthermore, lack of access for eligible beneficiaries has the potential to not only depress enrollment, but also to reduce potential cost savings,” wrote Sen. McSally and her colleagues in an Oct. 30 letter sent to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The lawmakers urged the federal agency leaders to make providers of the virtual Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), which is recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), eligible for reimbursement in the MDPP.

Joining Sen. McSally in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

Sen. McSally and her colleagues noted in their letter that while CMS “has done outstanding work developing online resources to show where MDPP suppliers are located,” geographic regions are shown to still exist where eligible beneficiaries lack reasonable access to a qualified supplier.

“Including virtual providers could empower these beneficiaries with feasible options for preventive, value-based care,” they wrote.

In addition, including virtual DPP providers in the expanded MDPP and embracing digital health tools to empower patients could bolster health outcomes and spur more savings across the healthcare system, according to the lawmakers’ letter.

“We also encourage CMS to consider ways for Medicare Advantage plans to use virtual providers to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries have access to a CDC fully-recognized DPP,” added Sen. McSally and her colleagues.