Health New England is proud to announce a new diabetes program aimed at improving health outcomes and lowering costs for commercial members with diabetes. The program, effective January 1, 2021, will address one of the most common – and costly – health issues facing our members, resulting in treatment and increased health care costs, lost wages and other issues.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects more than 10% of the United States population and represents the highest non-specialty spend for members. Our Health New England Diabetes Solutions program will include lowered out-of-pocket costs for insulin, with Lantus®, Humalog® and Humulin® moving to the lowest tier level of our commercial list of covered drugs.

In addition, we will be introducing a Diabetes Medication Therapy Management program for high-risk members. This program will provide members with free, one-on-one coaching sessions to help better manage their condition, medication and nutrition while improving diabetes awareness and education. As part of the program, members will also receive a full medication screening with a pharmacist and phone support from a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) who will work with members to improve health outcomes and quality of care.

“With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a heightened need to manage chronic conditions like diabetes,” said Ira M. Klein, MD, MBA, FACP, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Health New England. “At Health New England, we recognize that people with diabetes may have difficulty in affording the costs that come with a treatment plan. Our new diabetes solutions are designed to reduce cost barriers to the medications our members need to consistently manage their health and provide support in addition to their regular medical care.”

We hope the initiatives offered as part of our Health New England Diabetes Solutions program will improve the health outcomes and quality of care while lowering out-of-pocket costs for members with diabetes.