Medicare Can Help You Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

If you have prediabetes, now is the time to act. That’s because you can prevent or delay developing type 2 diabetes by making simple, proven lifestyle changes. Preventing or delaying type 2 diabetes can also help you avoid other serious health problems, such as heart disease and kidney failure. Taking part in Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) can make all the difference, and with Medicare Part B, it’s free!

MDPP can help you:

Lose Weight

MDPP teaches you how to eat healthy and be more active so you can lose 5% of your body weight. That’s just 10 pounds for a person who weighs 200 pounds.

Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

These lifestyle changes can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 70%

Reduce Medications

Losing weight may also help you manage other conditions with fewer medications, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Are You At Risk?

Take a short quiz to find out if MDPP is right for you.

Benefits of the Medicare Diabetes Program

Making changes can be a challenge, especially changes that affect your everyday life. But you won’t have to do it alone—a trained MDPP lifestyle coach will be there with you every step of the way. You’ll work with your coach to manage stress, stay motivated, and solve problems that get in the way of your goals.

Your lifestyle coach will adapt the program to match your group’s background, interests, and needs, such as:

Cooking
Showing you how to prepare healthy versions of popular local or international foods and getting ideas from group members.

Cooking
Showing you how to prepare healthy versions of popular local or international foods and getting ideas from group members.

Cooking
Showing you how to prepare healthy versions of popular local or international foods and getting ideas from group members.

Fun Activities
Sharing fun local events that can help you be physically active.

Fun Activities
Sharing fun local events that can help you be physically active.

Fun Activities
Sharing fun local events that can help you be physically active.

Tips and Tricks
Providing tips for eating healthy during holidays or events.

Tips and Tricks
Providing tips for eating healthy during holidays or events.

Tips and Tricks
Providing tips for eating healthy during holidays or events.

Overcoming Obstacles
Giving you information to address specific challenges or concerns.

Overcoming Obstacles
Giving you information to address specific challenges or concerns.

Overcoming Obstacles
Giving you information to address specific challenges or concerns.

Another big plus: You’ll join a group of people who are working toward the same goals as you. Together, you can share ideas, celebrate successes, and work through obstacles on the way to improving your health. And because healthy changes take time, you may be able to attend a full year of additional sessions after you finish the initial program, also at no cost to you.

How To Get Started

First, find out your risk of prediabetes with this 1-minute quiz. If your score is 5 or higher, ask your doctor for a simple blood test to confirm that you have prediabetes. You’ll need to meet these requirements to participate:

  • Enrollment in Medicare Part B through original Medicare (fee-for-service) or a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan.
  • Body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher (23 or higher if you self-identify as Asian).
  • Results from any one of these three blood tests within a year of starting the program:
    • Fasting plasma glucose test result of 110–125 mg/dL.
    • Oral glucose tolerance test result of 140–199 mg/dL.
    • HbA1C test result of 5.7%–6.4%.
  • No history of type 1 or type 2 diabetes (gestational diabetes is acceptable).
  • No current end-stage kidney disease.

Not covered by Medicare? You may be eligible to enroll in the National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program, which is backed by the same research and success as MDPP.

This project is conducted in partnership with the Black Women’s Health Imperative through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.