Continuing the discussion from Tslim insulin pump coming to Canada! YAY!:
Had the opportunity to speak with the actual Canadian t:slim representative and team Canada are commencing their training on October 1st, 2018… let’s hope the launch will follow soon! 
Any idea where they are opening their offices? I saw a couple of job postings on indeed.ca for Ottawa and Vancouver over that last couple of months.
Does this mean it will be covered there? I may end up back there eventually.
I was told that they will be situated in the Toronto area, same as Animas was before they pulled the plug.
Are you serious! I hope the launch is soon.
Only from personal experience; it would depend on the policy you have from your employer provided group insurance plan or personal insurance health plan.
I believe it would also depend on the province you reside in as some provinces have an insulin pump program.
From the previous thread:
“When available, the t:slim X2 will provide people in Canada a competitive choice in the durable insulin pump market, which we believe will be of particular interest as the only pump with Dexcom G5 Mobile CGM integration.”
Does specifying the G5 mean that Tandem will not be deploying the G6 Basal IQ updated pump? I’m hoping that is just an oversight in the press release!
How do I figure this out, which provinces etc? I would not be getting employer ins there most likely which is what I have here which costs a fortune.
No, the approval will not be for any actual CGM-pump integration. The G6 isn’t approved in Canada yet, either. So it’ll be a while yet before Basal-IQ or other integrations come along. (We don’t have the 670G approved, either.)
I don’t think provinces will know for sure until the pump is released. For example, BC covers the OmniPod and, if that doesn’t work out, will cover the 630G (possibly at extra cost, and not covering the CGM costs). There is no specific mention of the t:slim as it isn’t released yet, but I may try to get coverage through Pharmacare.
There is no central place to see what is covered since healthcare is determined by each province. You’d have to go to each province’s Ministry of Health pages and read up on whether pump coverage is coverd.
I can say for sure that no province covers CGMs or CGM supplies. So that would be a totally out-of-pocket expense regardless of which province you lived in.
what?!
, where did you hear of this news?
In Alberta there is an insulin pump program. If it is approved by health Canada then the Alberta Pump program will cover it. I do not know about other provinces.
My insurance plan reimburses me for the dexcom sensors, but not the transmitters. I am in Alberta though…
It’s what all of the press releases I’ve read state (including those from Tandem), and also what I have heard through the grapevine from people who know more about Tandem than I do. So I have just not read anywhere that the Basal-IQ is part of hte approval, and I think that if it was, Tandem would be advertising it. Plus, it makes sense considering the G6 is not here yet. But hopefully I am wrong!
You can start here – https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-cards.html. Go to each of the provincial Ministry of Health web sites and put “insulin pump” in the search box. (I tested about half of them and got up-to-date info.)
Diabetes Canada’s listing is shamefully three years old.
But is your insurance through work? I was referring to provincial coverage when I said CGMs and sensors are not covered, since @meee said she would not have access to extended health benefits . Some private/employer insurance plans do cover them.
This is correct (unfortunately), and ditto for the Libre. However, many private insurance companies cover the Libre (check here for a fairly recent listing), and they are starting to cover CGMs (among them Great West Life and Sun Life).
Yep it’s through work. I was lucky that for many years my insurance was covering my enlites, and now covers my dexcom. It does look like the libre will be covered soon by programs similar to pump programs, but that is still just in the future.
I agree with Jen. Initial deployment will not include Basal-IQ.
On Friday, October 12, 2018, Health Canada announced approval of the t:slim X2 insulin pump for users in Canada. This comes only days after a Health Canada approval of the Medtronic 670G insulin pump. Sales are expected to begin soon – “Fall 2018”.