HR 4218 – The Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2007

Everyday hospitals are closing down their diabetes education programs making it harder for our patients to get the knowledge to manage their diabetes. You may not know this but in 1997 when funding was made for education for patients, the recognized experts, CDE’s were not included in the bill!! Now there is a bill in the house to fix that and make diabetes education available to more patients. Please put your mouse button where your mouth is.

HR 4218 – The Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2007

As a constituent, I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor a very important piece of legislation, House Bill 4218 – the Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2007.  HR 4218, introduced on November 15, 2007 by Representatives Diana DeGette and Michael Castle, will ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to critical diabetes self-management training.

Diabetes self-management training (DSMT), also called diabetes education, teaches people with diabetes how to juggle the daily rigors of diet, exercise, meal planning, medication monitoring, and other factors necessary to control the disease.  Armed with these skills, people with diabetes are better able to prevent its deadly complications — heart disease, stroke, blindness, lower extremity amputation, and kidney failure.  Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) are highly trained health care professionals who help patients with diabetes learn the skills to help them successfully manage their disease.

Congress recognized the value of DSMT when it began covering the benefit in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.  At that time, most CDEs worked in a hospital setting and were able to bill Medicare for their services through the hospital’s provider number. Unfortunately, during these tough economic times, hospitals are closing their diabetes education programs at a rate of two to five a month, leaving CDEs without an avenue to provide or bill for diabetes education – services which are desperately needed to keep up with the ever growing number of people diagnosed with diabetes each day.  House Bill 4218 would correct this problem by recognizing CDEs as providers under the Medicare program.

CDEs have received extensive training in diabetes management. They have met all criteria for initial certification, including a prerequisite qualifying professional credential in a specified healthcare profession. They have professional practice experience in DSMT that includes a minimum number of hours of DSMT, have passed a national examination offered by a certifying body recognized as entitled to grant certification to diabetes educators, and have periodically renewed certification status following initial certification.

As you may know, diabetes is now widely recognized as one of the top public health threats facing our nation today and affects more than 18 million Americans.  In 2002, diabetes accounted for $132 billion in direct and indirect healthcare costs.  One solution to this growing problem is to make diabetes self-management training provided by a certified diabetes educator widely available to patients. Please become a co-sponsor of HR 4218 today.

Thank you again for your attention to this important issue. If you have additional questions, please contact me or call AADE Chief Advocacy Officer Martha Rinker at 1.202.624.1510.