A recent survey conducted by AADE finds that contract suppliers do not offer 60 percent of the products promised on the center for medicare and medicaid services (CMS) website.

A survey conducted by the American Association of Diabetes Educators has found that nearly one year after its implementation, a competitive bidding program for diabetes testing supplies is failing to provide Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes access to the specific kinds of supplies promised by Medicare.

In 2012 AADE Advocacy will continue to take the message out to the membership thanks to grants from our industry partners.

AADE is hosting (sponsored by Lifescan, Inc. and Novo Nordisk) an advocacy day in Atlanta, GA on January 26th to train and educate our member advocates and key folks in the southern region (TX, OK, LA, AR, MS, AL, TN, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, WVA, MD, and DE) on the licensure effort and advocating at the state level. If you live in one of these states and have a strong interest in grassroots advocacy please contact us @ advocacy@aadenet.org by January 11, 2012. There is no charge for this meeting but space is limited, by state and total attendance, so please inquire as soon as possible.

We will also hold an all-inclusive two-day advocacy training for AADEs state legislative coordinators (SLCs). This two-day training is designed to build a network of leaders for diabetes advocacy on the federal and state level through training, workshops and personal visits with Members of Congress. The event will be held on April 16th and 17th in Washington, DC. If you are your states SLC or need to know the guidelines please contact James Specker, AADE Advocacy Manager @ jspecker@aadenet.org. Complete sponsor list will be announced early 2012.

Be on the lookout for more news of where AADE advocacy will be holding meetings, trainings and workshops.