The American Diabetes Association is hosting a free Health Care Reform Teleconference tomorrow at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time. Chair of the Board of Directors, George Huntley, and Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Shereen Arent, will be featured in the call.

For fifty minutes, you can listen live and find out the latest health care updates, find out about how health care reform will impact people with diabetes, and also discover ways to get involved in the reform process and how to voice your own opinions and concerns.

Though the call is listen-only, you can use the information from it for discussion and action. You can RSVP here for the conference. When you do, you can submit questions for the call. After you register, you’ll receive instructions on how to call in.

At the website, you can also get involved as an activist or supporter by donating, contacting your members of Congress, spreading the word about diabetes and even finding out how to volunteer. You can even walk to raise funds; click here to find out more or to register.

The ADA also has a petition currently in progress asking for health care reform specifically for people with diabetes. With over 24 million Americans affected—and 57 million with pre-diabetes—diabetes is a growing concern for the American people. According to the ADA, a third of today’s children may end up with diabetes in their lives based on these numbers.

If you are familiar with the disease, you know that amputation is often needed. However, the ADA maintains that while the current health care system will pay for an amputation, it will not provide many other tools that people with diabetes need. Management of complications with diabetes, such as kidney problems, blindness and heart disease are vital to many sufferers of the illness, but lack of health care leaves many of them without the necessary tools to do so.  

When I think of diabetes, I think it already sounds like a pretty scary disease—but I didn’t even think about the other health complications involved like the ones listed above. Knowing that makes me even more concerned for my relatives with diabetes. I’m signing on to the petition, which is asking for people to not be denied insurance if they have diabetes (or other chronic conditions), health insurance to cover diabetic needs, and other important coverage requests. To find out more or to sign, click here.