ACT NOW: To Ask Congress members to sponsor the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act

Here is why:Diabetes is a significant problem for our nation. It touches the lives of thirty million Americans. Living well with diabetes requires individuals to make healthy changes to the status quo.The government needs to make a healthy change too. Diabetes consumes one in three Medicare dollars. Beyond Medicare, the government has responded to diabetes with efforts by more than three dozen different federal agencies. Those of us living with diabetes know these agencies can be a tangle of crossed responsibility that is a missed opportunity for communication and collaboration. Helping Americans live well with diabetes will require the government to change the status quo of agencies working alone, to a coordinated national response.The new commission that H.R.1192 creates will focus on diabetes activities and help the federal government to better address the disease, in a fiscally responsible and effective manner. The act is budget neutral, and prior experience suggest this commission can have a significant positive impact on care. The journal "Diabetes Care," June 1994 highlights the success of the National Diabetes Advisory Board, including the pivotal Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) that has defined modern diabetes care.The coming years promise new device and medication innovations that can be as pivotal as DCCT. Coordinating the federal response to these innovations will help millions of Americans.ACT NOW: Ask your elected officials to sponsor the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act.