Only 10% of Seniors Use Free Medicare Diabetes Test,
Olympia Dukakis Campaigns for More
Award-winning actress, husband Louis Zorich join
diabetes products company to launch Ask.Screen.Know. after tests
finds Louis has type 2 diabetes
Olympia
Dukakis, husband, actor Louis Zorich, face diabetes
May 20, 2009 A lot of statistics float around
about the devastating number of senior citizens stricken with diabetes
some say it is 7 of every 10 age 65 up with the disease of pre-diabetes.
It is such a crisis for seniors that Medicare pays for free screening,
but too few take advantage of it, according to actress Olympia Dukakis,
who, with her husband, actor Louis Zorich, has launched a campaign to
get more seniors screened.
The Academy Award winning actress and her husband
were recently screened for diabetes and learned Louis had the disease.
We both went in to be screened for
diabetes, especially because it runs in Louis' family, Dukakis said.
We found out that Louis has type 2
diabetes and now we can deal with it the right away. Now I remind him to
eat healthy and get some exercise. He knows I'm doing it for the right
reasons.
She adds, "When we learned that less than 10
percent of people with Medicare have taken advantage of the diabetes
screening benefit, we knew we had to do something.
So, they teamed with Novo Nordisk, a world leader
in diabetes care, to encourage adults 65 and older to ask their
healthcare provider for the Medicare diabetes test. For many, it's free
and it's easy. Knowing your blood sugar levels is important for
everyone.
Diabetes is an epidemic and many are alarmed
because of those people with diabetes, almost half don't know it. The
good news is that with early detection and treatment, the serious health
problems of diabetes can be prevented or delayed.
Since 2005, Medicare has offered free diabetes
screening services to those at risk for diabetes; however, utilization
has been low. Older adults who may be at risk are not taking advantage
of the benefit and many are undiagnosed. Novo Nordisk recognized an
urgent need to expand efforts to champion in-office screening for people
with Medicare, and teamed up with Olympia and Louis to launch this
campaign.
On Monday, May 18, they launched the
Ask.Screen.Know. initiative to educate others about Medicares free
diabetes screening benefit. In particular, they want caregivers to
remind their loved-ones who are 65+ to ask their doctors
to get screened for diabetes and to know
their blood sugar numbers.
More information about
the campaign can be found at
AskScreenKnow.com, which features Olympia and Louis story, words of
encouragement as well as very helpful health tools that will help
determine if individuals are eligible for a free diabetes screening from
Medicare.
The website also enables
visitors to send emails and/or voicemails to friends and family from
Olympia Dukakis to encourage them to take advantage of the Medicare
diabetes screening benefit.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a healthcare company with an
86-year history of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The
company's highest priority is the health and well being of patients, and
Novo Nordisk is committed to changing diabetes and acting as a catalyst
to advance the healthcare agenda to ensure patients experience quality
care and optimal treatment. The company has the broadest diabetes
product portfolio in the industry, including the most advanced products
within the area of insulin delivery systems.
