Florida’s diabetes epidemic: Approximately 2,350,321 people in Florida, or 13.1% of the adult population, have diabetes.
Of these, an estimated 579,000 have diabetes but don’t know it, greatly increasing their health risk.
In addition, 5,800,000 people in Florida, 38.7% of the adult population, have prediabetes with blood glucose levels higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
Every year an estimated 105,000 people in Florida are diagnosed with diabetes.
Florida has the largest proportion and second largest population of adults ages 65 and older in the nation, which poses a greater risk for our residents. In 2014, approximately one out of 10 mothers giving birth in Florida experienced gestational diabetes during their pregnancy. Gestational diabetes puts mothers at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, increases the risk of birth complications, and increases the risk of the infant being obese and developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
An accredited or recognized DSMES service must meet evidence-based standards. The accreditation and recognition processes help ensure that services are offering quality education and make the services eligible for reimbursement from Medicare, many private health plans, and some state Medicaid agencies.
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has authorized two organizations, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES), to determine whether DSMES services meet the required standards. Although ADA uses the term “recognition” and ADCES uses the term “accreditation,” the two terms (recognition and accreditation) essentially involve the same processes. Both organizations rely on the 2017 edition of the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support to evaluate DSMES services. These standards are reviewed and updated every five years.
For the past 30 years, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has been involved in the development and dissemination of diabetes care clinical practice recommendations. The ADA Standards of Medical Care have been an important resource for health care professionals who care for people with diabetes.
Reimbursement of DSMES – DSMES is covered by insurance. DSMES is a private insurance covered service per 627.6408 Florida Statute. If you have any difficulty with insurance coverage of diabetes self-management education, contact the Office of Insurance Regulation Consumer Hotline at 1-877-693-5236.
