University of Michigan takes on diabetes
The University of Michigan has announced that for the next two years, it will provide diabetes medicines for free to about 2000 employees and families, in an attempt to avoid more costly and serious complications down the road.
“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.”
Beginning in July, University of Michigan participants won’t be charged health insurance copay for generic drugs that control blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and other diabetes-related issues.
“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, from 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.”
While I suspect that the savings are not huge (my insurance copay is like ten dollars, and my insurance isn’t awesome), I like the fact that the university recognizes the long-term value of preventative treatment versus the short-term expense. I also hope that the diabetic participants in the program are tempted by the whole “IT’S FREE!” element.
(via The Washington Post)
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