ARKRAY USA secures 3-year contract with California Medical Assistance Program to provide glucose meters and other diabetes supplies to members

ARKRAY USA announced that the company has secured a 3-year contract with the Fee-for-Service California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal) to supply its members with ARKRAY's line of blood glucose meters, test strips and related supplies.

"We are pleased that Medi-Cal will make ARKRAY’s line of blood glucose meters, testing strips and ancillary supplies available to their members with diabetes," said ARKRAY USA President Jonathan Chapman.

"We at ARKRAY place a great deal of emphasis in developing products that are not only easy to use, but provide testing results that are highly accurate, providing patients and healthcare professionals with the information they need to effectively manage their diabetes."

Diabetes, or diabetes mellitus, is a metabolic type of disease in which affected people have high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate (Type 2), or because the islet cells in the pancreas no longer produce insulin (Type 1, sometimes referred to juvenile diabetes).

People with diabetes typically experience frequent urination, become increasingly thirsty and hungry. The ADA estimates that more than 30 million Americans suffer from either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and that 25.9% of American’s 65 years of age or greater will develop Type 2 diabetes.

Medi-Cal serves low-income individuals, including but not limited to: families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level.

The program is jointly administered by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Approximately 12.5 million citizens were enrolled in Medi-Cal as of May 2015, or about 32.4% of California’s population.

ARKRAY USA, Inc. is a division of ARKRAY, a global leader in diabetes care with headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. For more than half a century, ARKRAY has pioneered products to ensure that people who have diabetes – and the health professionals who care for them – can better manage the condition.

ARKRAY currently does business in more than 80 countries worldwide and is the market leader in diabetes management in the long-term care market in the U.S. The Company has a long history of developing cutting edge technology, such as the first portable glucose analyzer available in the United States; the first HbA1C analyzer; and the first hand-held blood glucose meter.