Sinema and a bipartisan group of Senators urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to adapt their coverage rules during the coronavirus crisis for Arizona seniors
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema and a bipartisan group of Senators urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPP) more accessible to Arizonans during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Arizona seniors deserve access to Diabetes Prevention Programs without having to risk COVID-19 exposure,” said Sinema.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have taken steps to reimburse physicians who administer Diabetes Prevention Programs through tele-video and virtual portals. However, CMS does not allow nurses or pharmacists, who are also certified to provide DPP services in person, to be reimbursed for providing virtual Diabetes Prevention Programs.
Sinema’s letter urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to address allow nurses and pharmacists to be reimbursed for providing virtual DPP services during COVID-19. More than 41,000 Arizonans are annually diagnosed with diabetes, where rural and tribal counties have the highest rates of Type 2 Diabetes in Arizona, those of which would most benefit from greater access to virtual Diabetes Prevention Programs.
In October 2019, Sinema wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calling for an expansion of virtual Diabetes Prevention Programs prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Click HERE for Sinema’s letter.