New York State Assemblyman and Chair of the State Council on Aging, Kim Doo-sik, along with New York State Senator Liu Chun-yi, have announced a new piece of legislation aimed at addressing the high incidence of diabetes among the Asian community.
The proposed bill (S.9372/A.09941) would mandate health insurance companies to provide diabetes screenings for Asian patients with a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 23. The current standard recommends screenings for patients with a BMI of 25 or above, but research from the American Diabetes Association, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that the BMI threshold for diabetes risk should be lower for Asian Americans compared to other ethnic groups.
Diabetes incidence rates are on the rise globally, with China, India, and the United States currently having the highest rates. Recent studies have shown that after adjusting for BMI, the diabetes prevalence among Asian Americans is 60% higher than non-Hispanic white individuals. If the legislation is passed to mandate health insurance coverage for diabetes screenings for Asians with a BMI of 23 or higher, it could lead to increased preventative education and care, enabling more cases to be detected and treated early.
Kim Doo-sik stated that they must respond to the calls from the medical community by requiring health insurance companies to cover the costs of diabetes screenings for the Asian Pacific Islander community at a lower BMI threshold.
Support for the legislation has been voiced by key figures such as Dr. Jaiho Liu, President and CEO of the Chinese American Independent Practice Association (CAIPA), CAIPA board member Julie Liu, and Dr. Charles Lopresto, President of the Queens Medical Society, highlighting that this move could expand the scope of free diabetes screenings and create conditions for more individuals to receive proper prevention for diabetes.