title: Managing benefits for diabetes: changing payer strategies for changing times.
abstract: Just as there are many ways to treat a condition such as diabetes, there are also many ways for payers to manage the diabetes benefit. Although none of these methods is specifically right or wrong, they are grounded in a payer's philosophy and created in response to the needs of the time. Yet, just as in any other business, new ideas and, for diabetes, new scientific discoveries will surely mandate new strategies to achieve goals. As payers find themselves adapting to new political realities and new partnerships, one cannot be sure if their new strategies will succeed or not. But, in actuality, this becomes moot as the 1 point we can be sure of is that benefit management will continue to evolve.
authors.affiliation: National Medical Director, HumanaOne and KMG, Clinical Leadership and Policy Development, Humana, N19 W24133 Riverwood Dr, Ste 300, Waukesha, WI 53188, USA. atzeelmd@humana.com
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tzeel
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics*; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States