Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17), in response to the report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is urging Senate support for his Gestational Diabetes Act of 2010 (GEDI – HR 5354), which passed the House in late September.  The report states that if current trends, that as many as one in three American adults could have diabetes by 2050.  Rep. Engel’s GEDI bill is currently awaiting action from the Senate.

The CDC report also states that the $174 billion currently spent on diabetes will at least double by 2050.  This surge can be attributed to increases in the aging population, high-risk minority population increases, longer life span for current diabetic patients, and the growing obesity problem in America.

“Currently one in ten Americans has diabetes, the prospect of that jumping to one in three is frightening, but it is also preventable.  While we cannot fight family history, genetic risk factors or the aging process, we can fight the causes of new cases of diabetes.  The Affordable Care Act requires health plans to cover preventative services, such as diabetes screening.  My legislation targets gestational diabetes, which can result in a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes for both the mother and child.  This can be prevented and I call on my colleagues in the Senate to pass my legislation when Congress returns after the elections so we can help turn the tide away from these dire predictions,” said Rep. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human services, Department of the Treasury and the Department of Labor have new regulations providing that families enrolled in new health plans on, or after, September 23, 2010, have preventative services covered without a co-pay, co-insurance or deductable. 

Gestational diabetes usually occurs during weeks 24-28 of pregnancy, and usually goes away after pregnancy. However, if untreated, it could have significant impacts on the mother and her child putting them at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes among other potential complications.

The legislation would:

• Develop a multi-site gestational diabetes research project within the CDC diabetes program to enhance surveillance and public health research on gestational diabetes.
• Provide demonstration grants to focus on reducing the incidence of gestational diabetes
• Expand basic, clinical and public health research investigating gestational diabetes and current treatments and therapies available. 

Risk factors for Type 2 diabetes includes older age, obesity, family history, having diabetes while pregnant, a sedentary lifestyle and race/ethnicity.  Groups at higher risk for the disease are African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indian/Alaska Natives and some Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Rep. Engel added, “The fight against diabetes is ongoing and one which needs constant attention. We cannot rest because the disease never does. By continuing to develop ways to identify, treat and prevent we can move continually closer to the eventual goal – finding a cure.”

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