OK, this is huge and I want everyone to help fight this now.
I was approved by my insurance for the usual five boxes of sets and cartridges.
I called the supplier to find out why that had gone down to exactly three for 90 days. She said I was approved for five boxes.
The lady conferenced me in to an Animas rep.
His name is Chris.
He told me Animas has been audited by the governement and sets can no longer be issued in large quantities.
You can no longer, according to him, order too many boxes of sets or cartridges.
Apparently five is too many. My order, and I have not ordered for six months, was changed to three.
You can get a special deal from your doctor if you need it, but otherwise no they are limiting orders.
He stated Animas will be shut down if they do not comply.
I stated three boxes per month is not sufficient to cover supplies if you need spares.
The Carecentrix representative told me and get this:
The reason you have a trainer come out and give you pump training is so you wont have any bad sets.
Animas said “If you have a bad set, we want it sent back for examination.”
I said what about your cat eating the tubing? What about hitting muscle and destroying sets? What about air bubbles and tossing sets for that? There are many instances when people need more sets. The Animas agent Chris admitted that was true, the Carecentrix rep said no that isnt true. She kept referring to that is why you get trained, so you dont ruin sets. I asked her if she had ever lived with sets and been limited in the number. She said yes. I doubt it.
I was treated rudely by her not Anims necessarily , I was told I wasnt listening and treated like I did not know what I was talking about.
You can see a discussion I had yesterday, where this has happened to at least one other member of this group.
I was told by the supplier I needed to talk to her patient advocate because of my not listening and my behavior. Finally they let me talk and I told them a whole country full of diabetic pumpers who use Animas, will not be happy with this. If this is the new rule, I hope all of you will get out and make phone calls.
Btw, my local reps reaction was oh, thanks for telling me what you are dealing with. That is it. Mind you yesterday an insurance person from Animas wrote me an Email and told me my doctor had made the change in amounts, not Animas.
I am literally shaking. I cant believe it, and even more so I cannot believe Carecentrix would treat me like I dont know what I am doing.
To even suggest that training from the pump company prevents bad sets, is beyond me. Truly beyond me. I will most likely never qualfiy for financial assistance now, because these people are so rude to me. And I dont trust Animas anymore, because no one was straight with me from there either.
Wow that is unbelievable !
I actually called Animas a few days ago to re-order supplies and was told that my info is no longer in their “new” system and that they are switching to some new digital system. Moreover, they had info about my doctor and dosage from 2009…so I basically am starting from scratch where my doctor and myself has to resubmit all the forms as if Im’ a new pumper even though I’ve been on the Animas pump 2 years now.
Really shady and I have no clue when I am going to get my supplies and if it will be the same quantity…
That Minimed pump is looking better & better isn’t it! As far as your doctor changing the amounts, usually the doctor gets a form already filled out and they just sign it - that sounded fishy to me anyway. You should call your doctors office and ask them that question also.
The last week I was thinking about going back to pumping, but your little adventure helped me make up mind to stick with MDI. I build up scar tissue easily and have sets fail. Apidra breaks down fast in the summer and I need to change my cartridge out early. That has nothing to do with “being trained” on the pump. Crap happens.
I’m sorry, I have a big internet mouth.
I have manged groups for pumpers online, including one for Animas pumpers for years and I will not sit on this for one minute.
I called my Endo’s office and I know he didnt order three boxes, but I asked them to please put in for four or five.
Carecentrix told me I was approved for five by the HMO.
There is no excuse for any of this.
Be honest Animas, tell people the government put a clamp down on you but do not lie.
That’s pretty crappy. I’ve ruined a few insets by pulling off the adhesive cover and not holding the inset itself and actually pulling the inset out of the injector capsule. Same thing happened pulling off the needle cover.
Anyways, I get 5 for 3 months, and couldn’t imagine going any less. I go through a set in just over 2 days, I never make it 3 full days without the insulin either running out or becoming less effective. This reminds me I need to reorder… I’ll see what they say
Here’s the deal - Care Centrix is NOT your insurance company - they are the go between that your insurance company uses for “durable medical goods.” Don’t put up with any crap they give you. They are horrible and have a horrible rep. I have complained about them several times to my insurance company, and they usually “fix it” for me.
What you’re allowed has to do with the durable medical portion of your insurance - that’s it. Call your insurance, or look in your book, and see if there are limits. Mine is unlimited, so I don’t allow them to push me around. I get my cartridges from Animas and my infusion sets from Liberty Medical (cuz I don’t use the Animas sets). Last time they messed it up, I had Liberty and Care Centrix on the line and the CC person asked why I had to use two different providers. I told her that was none of her business - it was my choice.
Wow this is real interesting information. Now that you guys mention it when I called the other day to reorder supplies they mentioned that they would contact my doctor for a new prescription. Maybe that’s why I received 5 boxes of insets instead of the 4 they told me they would send me.
I’m going to call today. I mean it’s one thing to have this disease to manage but then to have limitations on you by supplier and government. It doesn’t make sense how some can get 5 boxes and others can’t. If it wasn’t already such a hassle with insurance, or pharmacy or dr.'s… It is really no wonder most PWD decide to stop managing the disease. Beauracracy and red tape is literally killing us.
I haven’t had any experiences with limiting of sets. True, I haven’t ordered that many at a time yet. I don’t really order “three months worth” or “one month worth”, I just order when I need them. The first couple orders I underordered and found I needed more quickly so I’ve ordered more the next time. though truthfully I don’t think I’ve yet managed to order enough for 3 months! But they just send whatever I order at least so far. I also just put in my third order that they haven’t yet billed me for! It’s nice that the bill comes later (unlike most things these days!) but they will probably hit me all at once. Anyway, I don’t know that I have heard about any particular limit on sets. Maybe it has more to do with that Care Centrix than Animas or even your insurance company?
I am deeply disturbed because I cannot afford a copay for my next pump and I have been told only CC can provide me a possible financial waiver.
I have written the parent company of my HMO, they run two HMO and hospital systems.
He (VP of something or other) knows I have been upset with CC and he probably doesnt understand the full reason why. I have also informed a case worker nurse how bad CC is and I dont know that she gets it either.
Animas just wrote me back, and they refuse to budge on the three yet indicate my doctor’s orders are what they go by.
He according to CC authorized five boxes this week.
I was totally approved for five boxes.
I have been lied to by Animas, blaming my doctor for changing my prescription and I have been treated worse by CC.
To say sets going bad are the result of poor training…
So sorry Laura. I’m confused - this is new? Why do you need a waiver? Why do you need a new pump?
First, what does your HMO policy allow for durable medical? That is what counts and what you, CC, and Animas must go by.
Second, have you called Animas on your own - not “thru” CC? Are you sure it was Animas? They have never lied to me or given me any hassle. HOWEVER, it is NOT what your doctor says that Animas goes by - it is the AUTHORIZATION that CC releases that they go by. You need to call your parent insurance company (the HMO) - the number on your card, the customer svc center (not the VP) and have them get CC to issue a new authorization for the 5 boxes.
I’ve also had trouble with using Animas E-Store in the past. I too am limited to 3 sets per 3 months (due to insurance) and have backups from my Endo in case of any problems.
That being said, Ive only had 1 problem with a set or cartridge failing in 3 years, it was usually user error or the wrong set for my body type when I had problems. (I’ve long since switched to manual insertion sets.) The one time an infusion set failed during the prime, the pump delivered an error code and when I called Animas, they sent me a replacement, and I sent the failed one back so they could do quality control.
You might want to consider switching suppliers? Liberty Medical was auto shipping me supplies years ago every 3 months, and they would call, over and over, to make sure my supplies needed refilling in a timely manner. I thought the convenience of Animas’ E-store might alleviate me of all these phone calls, but it actually took weeks for Animas to process some orders, and on several occasions when there was a problem with the prescription refill, they did not even call me to inform me of any problems with the order! This delayed it even further, and it was quite horrible; running out of supplies, having to drive across town in an emergency situation to get sets, all because the order department was incapable of doing their job properly.
I recall being told “your order will be there in 7-10 days,” and 14 days later when I called, they said it was “7-10 business days,” and in any case my prescription had run out and they were not able to contact my doctor to renew it. This was two weeks after I placed the order! Wouldn’t you expect a call in the few days immediately after placing a refill if there was a problem as they do at the pharmacy the same day? Not 2 weeks later and not until I called them about it? This is completely ridiculous customer service! This happened more than once. Needless to say I was pretty upset on the phone!
A you might have incurred, Ive been through some of the same stresses you have, and at this point I learned to have a backup of nearly 5 sets and cartridges from my endo and always call them on the phone to place re-orders. It seems to work much better to talk to someone on the phone, at least in my experience.
This is the same philosophy as limiting test strips. What else can be done to make it more difficult than it needs to be? I will call Animas when I get home.
My issue was, if you have a vein hit and have a gusher you have to pull the set. My cat has eaten tubing…pull the set. That lady was ignorant, and treated me like I simply had poor training.
Animas is still going to tell any supplier that unless your doctor specifically writes for more boxes, they wont send them.
But, how is the government (or whoever) getting in and clamping down on what they ship out?
Apparently they wont ship above three boxes?
Unless you jump hoops and get your doctor to state you change either every three days or two days then wont budge.
I have to change every 3rd day due to skin irritation. It wasn’t a hoop - my doc simply indicated that. And, I don’t literally always have to change every 3rd, sometimes it is 4 - so, like GW, I have learned to save and stash.
I’m starting to be confused about what exactly the problem is. You must coordinate with your doctor, the insurance, the go-between, and Animas. Sad, but true. No way around it, you have to manage it or it will manage you.
The purpose of the go-between, by the way, is to ultimately conserve and save money for the insurance company (which, I am convinced, is how they make their $$) - so you have to fight for your rights.
See that’s where I don’t get what they told you because I do get 4 boxes even though I run out before the end of 90 days even though my insurance has approved 5 boxes every 90 days. Speaking of time to change out. LOL and to call to reorder. let the reorder fun begin…
Accidents do happen, yes sometimes it is user error, especially when you are new, like I was. or something happens… Yes I have to watch the kitties too… LOL but sometimes it may be that you do a rotation to a spot your not used to and pop there it is in your hand, on the floor or wherever… Even yes pulling it off accidentally when you are undoing the tape or needle cover. In which I have figured out how to rethread the inserter to not lose the set, since they only ship me under enough for the 90 days.
