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Biotech / Medical : Matria Healthcare (MATR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Philip Flanders who wrote (164)	12/22/1998 5:07:00 PM
From: GREATMOOD	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 220

Just one of the several reports I have read recently indicating the tremendous need for service to diabetes patients. GM Pennsylvania State Sen. Bodack: New Diabetes Report 'Reinforces' Necessity of New Law HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently released report blaming diabetes for $4 billion in direct hospital costs and 14.7 percent of all hospitalizations in Pennsylvania last year "fully underscores and reinforces the need" for Pennsylvania's newly enacted diabetes control law (HB 656, Act 98), Senate Democratic Whip Leonard J. Bodack (D-Allegheny) said today. Bodack, the leading advocate of the diabetes legislation that takes effect early next year, said the updated report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council "clearly shows that the diabetes control law we finally passed in October is long overdue." According to the health care council, in the study it released last Friday, the incidence of diabetes in Pennsylvania is far above the national average. The council reported that 1.1 million Pennsylvanians, or 9 percent of the state's population, are afflicted with the disease. The national average is 5.9 percent of the population. "At nearly twice the national average, diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in Pennsylvania. That's why it's so important for Pennsylvania's people to have access to the proper treatment, supplies and education they need to manage this incurable disease and prevent more costly and life- threatening health complications," Bodack said. Effective February 13, 1999, Act 98 of 1998 requires all private and group health insurance plans in Pennsylvania to provide coverage for diabetic supplies, i.e. blood glucose monitors, test strips, syringes, insulin, etc., and education to help diabetics manage their disease. According to the health care council's findings, 262,817 patients were admitted to Pennsylvania's hospitals for a total of nearly "2 million hospital days" with diabetes-related complications in 1997. Diabetes affects 1 in every 11 Pennsylvanians, while nationally it affects 1 in every 17 people. Diabetes is an underlying or contributing cause of death for 12,000 Pennsylvanians each year, the report showed. "While raising the awareness of the need for proactive action to help Pennsylvanians with diabetes, the unfortunate aspect of the new report is that many of these statistics might have been avoided if insurance companies had included the coverage for the supplies, treatment and 'self-help' training diabetics have needed all along. "Unfortunate too is the fact that the law that finally passed to require such coverage should not have taken so long," Bodack said. Bodack first introduced a diabetes control measure (SB 1156) -- similar to the law finally approved by the governor two months ago -- in October of 1997. Bodack's persistent prodding of the Senate GOP majority and the governor's office on the need for action on the diabetes measure was credited for its passage just prior to the Nov. 3, 1998, gubernatorial election. SOURCE Senate Democratic Information and Research Offices CO: Senate Democratic Information and Research Offices ST: Pennsylvania IN: HEA SU: LEG 12/22/98 12:45 EST prnewswire.com