AP/David J. Phillip
Little Rock, AR — The Arkansas Legislative Council subcommittee has recommended that state health insurance plans for public school and state employees implement a diabetes management plan.
The diabetes management program also would include claims integration to help identify high-risk individuals for pro-active outreach, control over GLP-1 drug costs and performance guarantees that address proactive outreach process measures in addition to outcome measures for mental health and other comorbidities under the recommendations of the Legislative Council’s Employee Benefits Division Oversight Subcommittee.
GLP-1 drugs are medications used to manage diabetes that were found to have a side effect of weight loss, according to Grant Wallace, director of the state’s Employee Benefits Division.
GLP-1 drugs either have FDA approval to treat diabetes such as Monjuaro and Ozempic, or FDA approval to treat obesity such as Zepbound and Wegovy, he said in March.
The Legislative Council Employee Benefits Division Oversight Subcommittee’s recommendations include that the state’s Employee Benefits Division issue a request for proposal to seek a competitive bid for the program.
The state’s Employee Benefits Division “does not have a specific management plan currently for our members who are diagnosed with diabetes beyond what is accomplished through case management with BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield) and the traditional treatment options of diet and medication,” according to Wallace.
“We do offer bariatric surgeries for qualified members managing diabetes along with other comorbidities,” he said in March. Last fall, he said “we have 14,501 of members diagnosed with diabetes.”
The state’s health insurance plans for public school and state employees cover more than 150,000 people.