EmblemHealth, Inc. is partnering with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention and America's Health Insurance Plans to offer an effective program to prevent type 2 diabetes in New York City. The 2012 Prevention and Public Health Fund cooperative agreement is part of a national effort to reduce the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes through the National Diabetes Prevention Program. The CDC awarded $6.7 million to six organizations to bring the program to people with prediabetes in their communities. The program enables EmblemHealth to offer National Diabetes Prevention Program classes to residents in Harlem and Cambria Heights, Queens, neighborhoods where EmblemHealth is expanding its presence and that have some of the nation's highest rates of diabetes. Participants with prediabetes will learn how to make healthy lifestyle changes to reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly 60%. These changes include choosing healthier foods, losing weight, increasing physical activity and learning strategies for maintaining these changes. The program is based on a research study led by the National Institutes of Health and supported by CDC, which showed that people with prediabetes could reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by making modest lifestyle changes that resulted in a 5 to 7% weight loss (about 10-14 pounds for a 200-pound person). Those changes included choosing healthier foods and increasing physical activity to at least 150 minutes a week. CDC estimates that national implementation of the prevention program could save $5.7 billion in health care costs and prevent 885,000 cases of type 2 diabetes in the next 25 years.

EmblemHealth, Inc. Presents at 2011 Investment Forum for Endowments, Foundations and Pension Funds (New York), Sep-13-2011 12:05 PM. Venue: New York, New York, United States. Speakers: Frank Melaccio, Director-Investments.

EmblemHealth, Inc. has joined with Linkwell Health, Inc. to make it easier for members to make healthier lifestyle choices. Linkwell Health, an innovative developer of health and wellness engagement programs, provides high-value offers for healthy lifestyle product discounts and practical lifestyle tips to EmblemHealth's members, including those specific to certain chronic conditions.