New Model for Chronic Disease Prevention
June 16th, 2010YMCA of the USA, the nation’s leading non-profit service organization dedicated to healthy living, and UnitedHealth Group, a diversified health and well-being company, today announced a partnership to reduce the burden of diabetes in the United States. In this first of its kind collaboration, UnitedHealth Group will reimburse YMCAs offering the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program.
Currently, about 24 million Americans are living with diabetes and another 57 million have pre-diabetes. The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is designed especially for people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Delivered in a group setting, it has been proven to cut participants’ chances of developing the disease by more than half.
This partnership marks the first time a health services company will reimburse a community-based organization for delivering a prevention program such as this.
The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that with lifestyle changes and modest weight reduction, a person with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by 58 percent.
Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine were able to replicate the successful results of the Diabetes Prevention Program in conjunction with the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. Unlike the NIH’s program, which was conducted with individuals one-on-one, the YMCA’s program is conducted in a group setting.
The research conducted by the Indiana University researchers also proved that the YMCA could effectively deliver a group program for about 75 percent less than the cost of the original Diabetes Prevention Program. This research also highlighted the YMCA’s ability to deliver the program nationally.
The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is being offered as part of UnitedHealth Group’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. YMCAs will receive reimbursement for each participant who is referred through the Alliance, with performance-based metrics built in that provide for a higher reimbursement when the desired weight loss is achieved.
In addition to partnering with UnitedHealth Group, YMCA of the USA is also working with CDC and elected officials championing prevention in Congress to bring the program to more communities and develop a national program to recognize proven diabetes prevention programs like the YMCA’s.
YMCA of the USA’s work with UnitedHealth Group will begin with seven YMCAs – Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; and Phoenix, Ariz. – and will expand throughout 2010 and beyond.
In these communities, the YMCA is committed to making the program available to everyone who meets program criteria, regardless of an individual’s insurance coverage. In addition, as evidence of UnitedHealth Group’s commitment to solving the nation’s diabetes crisis, the company is making the program available to other insurance companies and employer groups that are not its health insurance customers.
The goals of the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program are to help people with pre-diabetes achieve and maintain weight loss of at least 7 percent by eating healthy and increasing physical activity to 150 minutes per week. A trained lifestyle coach works with a group of participants for 16 core sessions to help them change their lifestyles. After these sessions, participants meet monthly for up to a year for added support in maintaining their progress.
This announcement comes on the heels of the historic health care reform legislation, which included a bi-partisan bill by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., authorizing CDC to train and recognize community-based diabetes prevention programs like those being offered by the YMCA.
In addition to its commitment to the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, UnitedHealth Group is also pledging a $2.25 million, three-year grant to support YMCA of the USA’s healthy living efforts.
For more information, visit ymca.net.