Recognizing Older Americans Month and Diabetes Awareness

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, as our nation marks Older Americans Month this May, it is critically important that we raise awareness about the challenges that face our nation's older adults and how we can work together towards solutions.

Today, older Americans are living longer than ever.

Unfortunately, more seniors are also developing chronic illnesses.

Among the most prevalent of these illnesses is diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 11.2 million Americans over the age of 65 are living with diabetes.

Diabetes is a costly medical condition/disease that can lead to heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, amputations, and even death.

This is especially true in Ohio, where, according to 2013 data from the Ohio Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, it is estimated that 10.4 percent of the State has diabetes, exceeding the national average of 9.3 percent.

Nationally, one out of five older Americans with diabetes have vision problems, and people with diabetes over age 75 are twice as likely to visit the emergency room for low blood sugar.

Diabetes is especially acute for African American adults who are 80 percent more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with this disease.

Medicare spends one out of every three dollars on people with diabetes.

We owe it to our nation's seniors to improve diabetes prevention, detection, and treatment.

As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Diabetes, I am proud to work to advance legislation such as the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Act of 2015, H.R. 2102; the Minority Diabetes Initiative Act, H.R. 4209; and the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act, H.R. 1192, to help curb the effects of diabetes.

Congress must make diabetes prevention and care a priority and enact legislation that would improve the health and well-being of all of our nation's seniors.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source