University to Provide Diabetes Medicine

Monday, April 24th 2006, 10:03 am

By: News On 6

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) _ Trying to slow the growing health care costs of diabetes, the University of Michigan said Monday it will provide most diabetes medicines free to insured employees and their families who need the drugs.

The program, a two-year experiment, will cover about 2,000 people and is an effort to fend off the worst complications of a disease that is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

``Diabetes is an area where we know that good control can have a huge, huge benefit down the line for individuals,'' said university President Mary Sue Coleman. ``We also believe that this will help contain long-term health care costs and help people to manage better.''

Type 2 diabetes is a growing national problem linked to obesity and now affecting roughly 18 million Americans. Insured diabetics can spend hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket each month on copayments for their required drugs.

When people skip their medications, the results can be disastrous. Failure to control blood sugar and blood pressure can lead to kidney failure, which often requires a transplant or dialysis. Other complications can include heart, kidney and nerve disease, eye damage and limb amputation.

``In the end, we hope this effort will help our state and our nation confront the threat that diabetes poses,'' said Dr. William Herman, director of the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He is also the medical director of the university's health maintenance organization.

Similar efforts are already under way elsewhere, including one started almost 10 years ago by employers in Asheville, N.C., where patient health has improved and diabetic care costs have fallen.

Under the University of Michigan plan, starting July 1, participants won't be charged health insurance copays for certain generic drugs that control blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and which address other diabetic problems.

The project is expected to cost the university about $800,000, and officials will evaluate long-term savings.

The university's various health plans cover about 69,700 employees and dependents, and about 2,100 have some form of diabetes. If the project is successful, it could be made permanent and extended to other chronic conditions.

``I think that program ideas like this are ways we can, as a system, deal with the epidemic of diabetes in this country,'' said Maurie Ferriter, director of programs and services for the Ann Arbor-based National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.

``Anything that can make it easier for the patient to manage their disease is a good thing because it obviously puts the person in a position to take control of their health care. When the person is invested in their own health care, they're more likely to manage it better.''