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Access & Affordability

DIABETES MANAGEMENT ACCESS & AFFORDABILITY

DLC Position Statement

  

The Diabetes Leadership Council (DLC) is committed to serving as a unifying voice in the diabetes community, breaking down barriers to care, and driving policy solutions to improve the lives of all people impacted by the disease. Our personal connections to diabetes – as people living with the condition, or as parents and allies of those who do – are the driving force in our patient-centered approach to policy advocacy.

DLC’s policy advocacy platform is firmly founded in the belief that diabetes management is preventive and should be covered accordingly in all health plans. Diabetes is a self-managed, chronic condition that requires a complex mosaic of medicines, medical devices, technologies, supplies and services including nutrition and diabetes education. Diabetes management requirements are unique and dynamic, and therefore best determined by people with diabetes in shared decisions with members of their care team.

Health insurance should enable equitable, affordable access to diabetes management necessities, rather than erecting barriers to them. Health plan sponsors, including employers and government agencies, and the organizations administering plans on their behalf, will best achieve their value objectives for health care and coverage using these person-centered pillars:

1.      Preventive, first dollar coverage without deductible

2.      No or low, predictable cost sharing throughout the plan year

3.      Sharing of all or substantially all discounts and rebates associated with covered products and services

4.      Treatment choice of diabetes products consistent with national clinical guidelines

Connect people with diabetes or prediabetes with the right tools and education at the right time. The nation will only begin to confront the diabetes epidemic when it prioritizes prevention rather than belatedly covering the costly and often disabling cumulative complications of the disease.

 

 

Affirmed by the DLC Board of Directors on December 15, 2021

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