King County ’s Health Reform Initiative and diabetes: Improving lives and saving money Currently, 1,300 King County employees and their family members are being treated for diabetes and more than 150 are projected to develop diabetes this year. Even more will become pre-diabetic. The good news is that the county’s Healthy IncentivesSM benefit design and the Health Matters program can help prevent diabetes or properly manage the disease. The physical and financial costs of diabetes can be life altering. People with diabetes face heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye damage and nerve damage that can lead to amputations. King County medical claims show that end stage renal failure, which can result from poorly managed diabetes, costs up to $322,000 annually. This has significant implications for patients and the county. For an individual looking forward to a happy retirement, unmanaged diabetes can be a serious financial drain and also limit the ability to travel, read, be active in the community and play with grandkids. For the county, the difference between unmanaged diabetes and properly managed diabetes can be millions of dollars each year. 
That is why the county provides tools through its benefit design and worksite wellness programs to prevent or manage diabetes. Diabetes can be prevented through lifestyle changes and the adverse health effects can be minimized through proper management. In the Diabetes Prevention Program, a large prevention study of people at high risk for diabetes showed that lifestyle intervention reduced developing diabetes by 58% over 3 years. The reduction was even greater, 71%, among adults aged 60 years or older. King County offers many tools to help prevent or manage diabetes. The Healthy IncentivesSM benefit design provides disease management programs for people with diabetes. A medical professional with Aetna helps monitor the treatment someone is getting to make sure it follows what science says produces the best results, for example, getting regular eye and foot exams and regular glucose and cholesterol checks. The Health Matters program also supports people in making lifestyle changes so they can prevent diabetes or properly manage it. The Gym Discount Program, Weight Watchers at Work and other Eat Smart, Move More programs provide group support or tools for individuals ready to make lifestyle changes. The county also provides a host of online tools so that employees can be armed with the information they need to manage their care and be a full participants in decisions that impact the cost and quality of the care they receive. See the Logon and Learn article in this issue to learn more. And this month, the county is bringing a variety of resources to the worksite to help people learn more about treating diabetes.
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