Medicare will begin paying for a strategy aimed at preventing those Americans at high-risk of diabetes from developing the disease, according to The Washington Post.
Here are five notes:
1. Medicare will start covering the benefits in 2018.
2. Federal officials found implementing a national diabetes-prevention strategy would be worthwhile, leading to its adoption.
3. Medicare will pay for more primary care physicians to manage patients' chronic disease and pay for collaboration between those physicians and mental health professionals.
4. In 2013, Medicare provided funds to YMCA and other nonprofits that worked with pre-diabetic older Americans who attended group meetings with a lifestyle coach. The coach instructed these individuals on ways to enhance their diets, boost their physical activity and modify their behavior to control their weight.
5. Nearly 25 percent of Americans aged 65 and older have diabetes.