With Nearly 14% Increase In Diabetes In Ohio Since 2000, Brown Introduces New Diabetes Legislation

Press Release

With Nearly 14% Increase In Diabetes In Ohio Since 2000, Brown Introduces New Diabetes Legislation

With a nearly 14 percent increase in diagnosed diabetes cases in Ohio since 2000, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced introduction of new diabetes legislation with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). More than 20 million Americans and 620,000 Ohioans have been diagnosed with diabetes. Brown, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced legislation that would increase diabetes screening, establish an advisory group to make recommendations about employee wellness programs, improve the collection of diabetes mortality data, and create a national diabetes report card.

"Diabetes is one of the most disabling and costly health problems in the US, and in many cases it is preventable," Brown said. "To save lives and money, we need to boost our investment in surveillance, screening and prevention. The saying ‘an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure' was never more true than in this case."

The increase in diabetes across Ohio and the U.S. reflects America's growing obesity epidemic. According to recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34 percent of Americans over age 20 - more than 72 million people - are obese. Many of our nation's children are at risk for future health problems. Seventeen percent of American children and adolescents are overweight, a major risk factor for the development of obesity and diabetes.

Recently released data from the Ohio Department of Health indicates that 7.8 percent of Ohioans are struggling with diabetes. The vast majority are aged 65-74. National racial disparities in incidence are also evident in Ohio with much higher rates of diabetes among African Americans than whites.

The CDC estimates that 6.2 million Americans have diabetes but are undiagnosed, an obvious barrier to critical preventative care. Diabetes is not consistently listed on death certificates as a cause of death, which leads to an underreporting of diabetes mortality rates. CDC studies indicate that only 35 to 40 percent of people who died from diabetes had it listed anywhere on the death certificate and only about 10 to 15 percent had it listed as the underlying cause of death.

The Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act boosts our response to diabetes in the following ways:

Diabetes Screening Collaboration and Outreach Program: Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to evaluate the utilization of diabetes screening as well as create a screening outreach program.

Advisory Group for Employee Wellness and Disease Management Best Practices :The Advisory Group would make recommendations about best practices for employee wellness and disease management programs that are already underway in the private sector.

National Diabetes Report Card: Updated every two years, a national report card would contain aggregate health outcomes on a national and state level for people with diabetes. The report card will outline practices, risk factors, and outcomes, including complications of diabetes.

Vital Statistics Collection: Authorizes the Secretary of HHS and the CDC to train doctors on properly completing death certificates and improving the collection of diabetes mortality data.

Institute of Medicine (IOM) Study on Appropriate Diabetes Medical Education: Currently, a medical student is required to have less than four hours of education in diabetes to become a board-certified physician. Given the enormous toll that diabetes takes on the health care system, this bill authorizes HHS to collaborate with the IOM and other entities to study the impact of diabetes on the practice of medicine in the U.S. The study would also determine the appropriate level of diabetes medical education that should be required prior to licensure, board certification, and board recertification.

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