The Wilmington Family YMCA recently celebrated two news developments, a news release said.

First, 56 individuals were screened during the American Diabetes Association Alert Day event. Thirty-two percent of those screened were identified to be at high-risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which supports national estimates that one in three Americans have pre-diabetes.

New classes recently began for the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention. Limited spots are still available, officials said. For more info, go to wilmingtonfamilyymca.org/programs/healthy-living

Also, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that a successful demonstration project led by the YMCA of the Y-USA has been shown to produce cost savings for Medicare participants, and marks a critical step for HHS to eventually covering the Diabetes Prevention Program under Medicare for those with pre-diabetes.

The announcement is a result of the findings from a three-year project, spearheaded by Y-USA, which was awarded funding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to deliver the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program to nearly 8,000 participants.

It is the first time that a preventive service pilot funded by the government’s CMMI office has proven to reduce cost and lower incidence of type 2 diabetes.

When compared with similar beneficiaries not in the program, Medicare estimated savings of $2,650 for each enrollee in the Diabetes Prevention Program over a 15-month period, more than enough to cover the cost of the program.

As of February, the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program had served over 42,000 participants at more than 1,400 sites in 45 states across the country resulting in average weight loss of 4.6 percent at the end of weekly sessions and 5.5 percent at the end of year.

“This is great news for our community. Having this as a covered benefit is monumental in furthering our ability to help reduce – and ultimately avoid – health risks associated with type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions,” Dick Jones, Wilmington Family YMCA’s president and CEO, said in a news release.