Diabetes prevention counseling is cost effective, US study finds

Medicare, the US insurance program for elderly people and people with disabilities, announced plans on 23 March to cover diabetes prevention programs that focus on lifestyle counseling, after an independent evaluation found that a pilot program had successfully reduced participants’ risk of developing type 2 diabetes while creating savings that more than covered the program’s cost.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 29.1 million adults in the United States (nearly one in 10 of the US population) have diabetes, and 86 million US adults (more than one in three) have pre-diabetes. Of these, 22 million are 65 or older and eligible for Medicare coverage.

Earlier this week, …