Sen. Al Franken has introduced a diabetes prevention bill,that he says will bring "significant health care savings and better health for Americans."

Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is the co-sponsor.

It's called the Diabetes Prevention Act of 2009 and provides:

• Grants for diabetes prevention model sites for those at high risk for diabetes. These grants will assist community-based diabetes prevention (CDP) programs working with health care delivery systems to identify, refer and provide those at high risk for diabetes with cost-effective, group-based lifestyle intervention programs.
• Development of a recognition program for eligible entities to serve as community-based diabetes prevention programs. The CDC will require each program to provide a description, ensure adequate training, and agree to submit data for outcome evaluation.
• Creation of a training and outreach program. The CDC will develop curriculum and training for lifestyle intervention in partnership with state diabetes programs, academic institutions and community-based nonprofits.
• Quality assurance for community-based diabetes prevention model site and for other CDC recognized CDP sites. The CDC will provide evaluation, monitoring and technical assistance to each CDP program. A public registry of the CDC-recognized programs will be established.
• Applied research grants to advance the national strategy for community-based programs, improve communication strategies for high-risk communities and examine model benefit and payment designs for diabetes care.

November is American Diabetes Month.