I am a 79 year old female who has been on a Medtronic minimed pump for a little over a year. I am not a happy camper. My BG is higher than ever in my 35 year illness. I have at least one "No Delivery" a week with no noticeable problem causing that. Of course, Medicare won't pay for a sensor or any other kind of pump. I would like to know how any of you pay for sensors and Tslim meters. I almost would pay for this thing myself if I could get better results. Any ideas?
Medicare and the Pump
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Hi Judy!
It hasn't gone into effect yet but the Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor has been approved by Medicare just this month.
https://testguessandgo.com/2017/01/16/medicare-and-cgm-coverage-love-your-receiver/
My insurance (UHC) only covers Medtronic, but since I'm a T2 I fall into an odd donut hole where it wouldn't be fully covered. So I decided that if I'm paying, I'm getting what I want!
So I pay out-of-pocket for both my Dexcom G5 and a Tandem T:Slim X2. I negotiate a cash price discount as best I can, and use the FSA (flexible spending account) for both my husband's job and mine to help pay for the cost pre-tax. It still doesn't cover all of it though and I am very lucky to be able to afford it.
It is really frustrating to be getting occlusion alarms so regularly. Have you been working with Medtronic to find out why? There are lots of things you can try to combat it: different infusion sets, angles, new "virgin" infusion sites, working on your insertion technique, changing sets more often, etc.
It hasn't gone into effect yet but the Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor has been approved by Medicare just this month.
https://testguessandgo.com/2017/01/16/medicare-and-cgm-coverage-love-your-receiver/
My insurance (UHC) only covers Medtronic, but since I'm a T2 I fall into an odd donut hole where it wouldn't be fully covered. So I decided that if I'm paying, I'm getting what I want!
So I pay out-of-pocket for both my Dexcom G5 and a Tandem T:Slim X2. I negotiate a cash price discount as best I can, and use the FSA (flexible spending account) for both my husband's job and mine to help pay for the cost pre-tax. It still doesn't cover all of it though and I am very lucky to be able to afford it.It is really frustrating to be getting occlusion alarms so regularly. Have you been working with Medtronic to find out why? There are lots of things you can try to combat it: different infusion sets, angles, new "virgin" infusion sites, working on your insertion technique, changing sets more often, etc.
Thanks for your reply. I guess I don't understand the notes about you. Are you on a pump? Your A1C is very low, much lower than I have read we senior citizens should have but I envy you 100% I don't think I've ever had as low a A1C as you have. Do you control your diabetes just with diet? How many carbs a day? Eating is my downfall, I know altho I am not particularly heavy, I do like my snacks in the evening and they have high carbs.
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Are you on a pump? ...
No. Diet controlled only.
Do you control your diabetes just with diet? How many carbs a day?
I have found that my body cannot process very many grams of carbs at one time - 8-10g is about my limit if I want to eliminate a spike (which I try to keep to below 120 but sometimes goes up to 130). I have a sluggish 2nd phase insulin response plus mild gastroparesis, and it can take up to 3 hours for my BG to begin to go down.
Everyone's metabolic process is different. Only testing will confirm how many carbs per meal or day a T2 diabetic can handle.
Your A1C is very low, much lower than I have read we senior citizens should have but I envy you 100%
Why should diabetic seniors have a higher A1C than non-diabetic seniors. I have heard this mentioned before and I think it is nonsense. I'm not on insulin or meds where I could go too low.
I don't think my current A1C will be as low as it was last year because I haven't been quite as strict as I was then. But I'm sure it will be below 5.5.
Eating is my downfall, I know altho I am not particularly heavy, I do like my snacks in the evening and they have high carbs.
I totally relate. But I keep my snacks as close to no-carb as I can. I'll often eat bacon at night. Nuts are my downfall, especially almonds, because of the fact that I will eat too much and the total carbs is more than I should be having at one time.
If I could eat dairy or eggs, my snacks would be more varied such as sliced cheese or deviled eggs or cream-cheese fat-bombs.
No. Diet controlled only.
Do you control your diabetes just with diet? How many carbs a day?
I have found that my body cannot process very many grams of carbs at one time - 8-10g is about my limit if I want to eliminate a spike (which I try to keep to below 120 but sometimes goes up to 130). I have a sluggish 2nd phase insulin response plus mild gastroparesis, and it can take up to 3 hours for my BG to begin to go down.
Everyone's metabolic process is different. Only testing will confirm how many carbs per meal or day a T2 diabetic can handle.
Your A1C is very low, much lower than I have read we senior citizens should have but I envy you 100%
Why should diabetic seniors have a higher A1C than non-diabetic seniors. I have heard this mentioned before and I think it is nonsense. I'm not on insulin or meds where I could go too low.
I don't think my current A1C will be as low as it was last year because I haven't been quite as strict as I was then. But I'm sure it will be below 5.5.
Eating is my downfall, I know altho I am not particularly heavy, I do like my snacks in the evening and they have high carbs.
I totally relate. But I keep my snacks as close to no-carb as I can. I'll often eat bacon at night. Nuts are my downfall, especially almonds, because of the fact that I will eat too much and the total carbs is more than I should be having at one time.
If I could eat dairy or eggs, my snacks would be more varied such as sliced cheese or deviled eggs or cream-cheese fat-bombs.
Thank you for getting back to me. I don't envy the costs you must be paying for your pump, etc. I was put on the pump because I was going into Medicare's "donut hole" by Feb. of every year and my insulin would then cost from $888 to $1000 every 90 days. Being retired, we just didn't have that much money. When a blood test showed my peptide count to be a certain figure that made me eligible for the pump, my doctor put me on it. So the pump, supplies and insulin are free. Insulin for a pump is considered durable medical equipment and not a prescription medication so that has been the only real good thing about going on the pump.
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