2022 Atlanta Board of Trustees Meeting

attributed to diabetes will climb by 38% to 385,800; and total annual medical and societal costs related to diabetes will increase 53% to more than $622 billion by 2030 17 ; and Whereas consistent with the AMA’s improving health outcomes strategic plan initiative, “The best solution for turning around the diabetes epidemic is preventing prediabetes and its progression to diabetes in the first place. Achieving such an outcome calls for addressing underlying societal risk factors that can contribute to unhealthy lifestyles, and would require a “population-wide” approach that addresses health promotion, obesity prevention, and creates a physical, cultural, and psychological environment that supports healthy living naturally. This outcome could not be achieved by individual health providers and patients alone, but requires integrated systems of care incentivized for desired health outcomes. It also would require a political will for effective policies and commitment of the public at all levels” 18 ; and Whereas in spite of AMA policy calling on our AMA to work with national specialty and state medical societies to advocate for patient access to and physician payment for the full continuum of evidence-based obesity treatment modalities (such as behavioral, pharmaceutical, psychosocial, nutritional, and surgical interventions), coverage of these services remains inconsistent, with Medicare still not allowing payment for behavioral treatment outside of the primary care setting, or for anti-obesity pharmacotherapy 19 ; and Whereas while 85% of individuals affected by type 2 diabetes receive pharmacotherapy, only ~2% receive obesity pharmacotherapy 20 and only ~1% receive metabolic and bariatric surgery 21 , both modalities that can improve health

17 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5278808/ accessed 3/10/2022 18 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5278808/ 19 Policy D-440.954, AMA a18

20 Thomas CE, Mauer EA, Shukla AP, Rathi S, Aronne LJ. Low adoption of weight loss medications: a comparison of prescribing patterns of antiobesity pharmacotherapies and SGLT2s. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2016; 24(9):1955–61. 21 https://www.asmbs.org