Diabetes Talking

Question:

When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

I think it depends on your particular insurance coverage.  Mine partly paid for my meter, and I’m not even on oral meds. Harper *** Robin Carroll-Mann Type II, dx’d 8/96, diet & exercise "Mostly Harmless" — Douglas Adams

Response:

When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

Yes.  But a letter from my physician to the insurance company fixed it.  This was with Sanus – now Nylcare.

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When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me.

Our HMO doesn’t cover meters or strips unless you are on medication. My husband bought a meter and pays for his own strips. The irony is that he wouldn’t have a clue to help him control his diabetes without medication unless he had feedback from testing his blood. His doctor did not recommend bg testing — I assume because he knew insurance wouldn’t cover it. My husband and I read as much diabetes literature as we could and figured out what to do on our own. Without bg testing, I’m sure my honey would be on medications by now. Mary

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When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

It is quite common.  It is true for Medicare and many insurance companies follow the Medicare model for durable medical equipment. If you have a meter to trade in, almost all the available meters are free or a little cheaper.  One exception is OneTouch Profile which is $20 or $25.  Check the mail order ads in the back of Diabetes Forcast for current prices with rebates. — Charles Coughran

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As incredibly stupid and shortsighted as it is, many insurance companies operate this way.  There is absolutely NO excuse for this, and my own HMO, Group Health, does the same thing….just one of the many reasons I will be abandoning ship at the end of this month. Buzz Haughton has a theory that the insurance companies KNOW this will eventually lead to complications, but by the time we are disabled, we can be offloaded to a federal program like SSI, Medicaid, or welfare and medical coupons.  So even though their shortsightedness contributes to our later complications, they will not be the ones to pay the price–we, the TAXPAYERS, and we, the diabetics, will suffer for their greed.      DIANA DILLS        *UWPD* – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

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When I was first diagnosed [incorrectly, ack!] as NIDDM I called the insurance co. and they said, "we only cover supplies for people who are insulint dependant." However, they’re wussies when it comes to arguing with the doctor’s prescriptions.  My doctor wrote a prescription for a meter and strips and the insurance never said a thing.

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I had the same problem with a insurance,but just tell your Endo put you in insuline ,combo with pill. — —                                                                                                                                                         Z question.  |      | |            | (o)(o) |           |  C      _)|               |   |   /    |             |  /____    |                  / /         |                 / |           /

Response:

When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

It is my understanding that Medicare does this. So, I’d expect that quite a few have. It does not make sense, but it may take loosing a batch of malpractice suits to change it. Walt

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Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me.

Welcome to real life in the real world of rising health costs, more and more people finding themselves with diseases and medical conditions that are insideous and expensive. Prevention does not seem to be working, I wonder if maybe we are doing something wrong? I hope you can dig deep into your own pocket to pay for your own disease — that’s what the prevailing attitude seems to be.   Damn you, you’ll be punished with diabetic complications and financial hardship for having gotten a disease that should have been able to avoid — that seems to be another prevailing attitude. What did you do wrong, you awful person? Hmmm, I wondering if we should just band together and cure ourselves of this disease so we don’t have to put up with crap like you are being put thru? Are we really trying hard enough for a cure?  Or is it like cars, we just buy another and get into an ever increasing traffic jamb. — Grant Who hopes you get the meter of your choice, tests regularly and adjust your lifestyle accordingly. —– —– LC-DIABETES is for Persons with Diabetes following any Carb Counting Diet. PALEOFOOD  is for Hunter-Gatherers following the NeanderThin Diet. To subscribe to either of these SUPPORT GROUPS click on: http://www.mountain-inter.net/~magnuson/ —–

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When I called my insurance this morning to see how much they cover for a trade-in (my meter for another kind), they said that unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. Has anybody ever heard of such a thing??? Apparently, people with diabetes on oral medication don’t need meters. It does not make sense to me. Has anybody ever had such an experience?

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. …   Unfortunately it’s rather common — and even Medicare makes a   distinction between Type 1 & Type 2 in doling out benefits. Now DKC.. One question… What does taking insulin have to do with your statment…. I am type II,  I’ve had the tests that prove I’m type II but I take insulin Please do not fall into the mistake of thinking that only type 1’s need insulin  Type II can be Insulin Requireing (As opposed to dependent which is type 1)

Jeez, John, please make an effort to understand what’s written.  *I* don’t make the faulty distinction, some *insurance companies* do!  If you’d learn to quote people in context, maybe you wouldn’t go off half-cocked.  If you’d bothered to quote my entire remark — which you probably didn’t even bother to read, even though it was only another 20 words or so — you would have seen that your understanding of the issue and mine are the same: namely that *insurance companies* are making a faulty distinction about insulin use.  Which is precisely why I suggested that Reinhard enlist the help of his doctor to fight his insurer’s ruling.  But you cut that part.  I wonder why.  Are you dyslexic?  At least dylexia would provide a benign explanation for what otherwise looks like deliberate distortion. David Cohler, South Pasadena, CA Media Access Consultancy http://members.tripod.com/~dcohler/

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   Unless I take insulin, there is no coverage. …    Unfortunately it’s rather common — and even Medicare makes a    distinction between Type 1 & Type 2 in doling out benefits. Now DKC.. One question… What does taking insulin have to do with your statment…. I am type II,  I’ve had the tests that prove I’m type II but I take insulin Please do not fall into the mistake of thinking that only type 1’s need insulin  Type II can be Insulin Requireing (As opposed to dependent which is type 1) I know the ADA in their handouts say "Type 1 (Insulin Dependent)" but they also say "_____ for the cure" even though they only give about 1/8th to research and the JDF gives well over half of it’s income to research. They forget to mention that Type II’s also need insulin. Oh yes…… Some of the type II’s I know have had some luck with getting their endo to perscribe Insulin "To cover" and since they now have a ’script for insulin their insurance has covered everything  (Or "Use as per Doctor’s Directions"  That’s what my insulin script says, My doctor’s directions are "Use the sliding scale you set up yourself" but hey… He’s a good doc!) "Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business" Gravity always gets me down. Net-Tamer V 1.08X – Registered

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