My son uses Medtronic 670G pump. He just took his first full time job with health insurance (Anthem BC/BS Georgia). He is basically being told that his insurance won’t pay for his pump supplies. Situation is becoming desperate as his supplies from previous insurance run out! What is our next step?!
Hi @tony131065 and welcome to the forum. I took a quick glance at the other responses - a number of which are from “very experienced” (as in long term) diabetics. I may have missed something but I don’t knew if anyone has suggested looking finding into a different endo. Unless you gave just a very general description of what they told you, their advice was very generic at best. And as a person newly diagnosed, and with hypoglycemic unawareness, you need much more specific guidance and diabetes education.
While we are used to endos treating diabetes, endocrinology covers a number of different specialties and doctors in that field may treat patients in areas they are less familiar with. If your endo is not board certified in diabetes specifically I encourage you to find one that is. As someone fairly newly diagnosed your education should consist of learning about how the body functions (and doesn’t), nutrition and carb counting, how exercise and stress can affect glucose levels, carb counting and matching insulin doses to your food intake - aka the carb ratio for those of us who pump. If you take injections you may use a sliding scale of insulin based on your glucose level, but since I use a pump I can’t address that very well.
A practice with an endo specializing in diabetes, as well as a diabetes nurse educator (DNE) and a nutritionist is ideal, in my opinion. I’ve found that my endo treats and guides me very well. But she may send me to one of those others for certain guidance. A DNE is a nurse with specialized training in training us. And again, in my experience, they may be able to devote more time to us in their area than the physician, part of whose time is spent checking BP, eyes, feet, etc and of course reviewing our downloads or records to see what adjustments may need to be made. That in certainly important, but the DNE can help us understand how our body works and responds so we can understand why such adjustments are needed, and along with our doctor, we can learn to make our own adjustments as we become more experienced. The nutritionist can teach you how and what to eat to keep your numbers more stable and make sure you’re getting the nutrients you require.
If CGMS are an option for you - and having one is a medical necessity under the circumstances but I don’t recall anything about your insurance or finances - I would recommend the Dexcom (which I use and love) or Medtronic’s. These give you alerts which are a necessity since you don’t know when you go low. The Freestyle Libre is good. I’ve had the opportunity to use it a couple of times and loved loved loved the convenience of doing a quick swipe when it was time to eat, or if I felt like I needed to check. BUT - and this is a very big “but” - it doesn’t have alerts. Do since you don’t get those feelings that may indicate a check is in order, Dexcom or Medtronic would be better choices for you.
And finally(
) - support is important for all of us, whether our control is excellent or we have unawareness as you do. A partner who is willing to learn with us, help us with a healthy lifestyle, and who might spot signs even before we do, is invaluable. I hope your wife is willing to learn how she can help you in your quest to keep your numbers in a healthy range, and that she’s willing to go with you to appointments so both of you can learn.
Hi Kevin. I’m also on the 670G system. With each pump upgrade, a Medtronic rep worked with my insurance to ensure items were covered. Most insurances will cover pump supplies as Durable Medical Equipment (DME) under Major Medical. My insurance covers these items under the Prescription Drug plan. I suggest contacting Medtronic to work with your son’s insurance. Hopefully, they can figure out coverage.
Thanks Lizzie- he has contacted Medtronic but no answers so far