Medicare may be soon covering lifestyle programs for recipients with prediabetes.  To be considered prediabetic, recipients   blood sugar levels would have to register as higher than normal range.  These lifestyle programs would cover counseling for improved diet and exercise.  The CDC reports seniors over 65 make up about 1/4 of 86 million Americans considered prediabetic.

In 2012, the YMCA ran a 15 month pilot program funded by a federal grant in eight states.  The results projected that Medicare saved $2,650 per program participant because of successful health improvement.

Programs of the like are gaining popularity as obesity is one of the largest common factors of health problems and health costs.  These programs also give health counseling organizations the opportunity to increase their work with the senior demographic- as well as increase their profits.

It has not yet been determined how the program will be paid for but speculated by an outcome-based model instead of the traditional fee-for-service model for Medicare.