After deciding to go with the Tandem X2 pump and Dexcom CGM I need to pick a supplier. As an Aetna Medicare PPO patient my options are: CCS Medical, Byram Healthcare, Edwards Health Care, Edgepark Medical Supplies.
CCS is out, I had a bad personal experience with CCS when I was on Medicaid last year, with literally months between being able to reach an actual person there to talk about getting my Minimed supplies (lots of menus and voicemails, no response even though a named person was working on approval). Eventually I just paid cash for infusion sets until disability/Medicare came through.
Does anyone have something positive to say about the other options? I looked online and they all have negative reviews, hopefully there are enough positives for one of them to help me decide :-). I’m aware that people are more likely to post a negative review than a positive one so online review sites tend to skew negative.
Byram for Dexcom - No problems.
CCS for Tandem - No problems.
No skew.
Note. Adding Medicaid to the mix might be problematic for Dexcom. Maybe.
CCS and Tandem and Medicaid should still be no problem.
Although first you mention Medicare then Medicaid. Same Note. May be an issue for Dexcom. Medicaid may not cover Dexcom. Medicare is still being worked out AFAIK for Dexcom.
FYI I’m only on Medicare now. Medicaid just covered the gap at the beginning of last year when I ran out of money waiting for disability :-). I’m on Medicare now. Thanks for the feedback.
For Dexcom and Medicare you may have to go direct to Dexcom. I suggest you call Dexcom yourself. It is sounding like there will be no other distributor for Dexcom that works with Medicare - at least for now.
A couple threads in the forum on Medicare and Dexcom specifically. Check those. But focus on the end of the threads as there have been significant changes since it all kicked up at the beginning of this year.
I have been using Byram for pump and dexcom several years with good results. One billing error due to miscalculation involving timing and deductible being met, but they did resolve it. They have a team that specializes in diabetes supply, so you talk with some familiar with the products or can reorder online. They have handled all the communications for approvals/RX between docs and insurance.
I have been getting Dexcom supplies from Edgpark for 5 months and have had nothing but problems. My last order took FOUR phone calls to get it straight. Even after I had given my credit card for the co-pay they did not ship my supplies. After yet another call they said I had given my credit card but not given them permission to charge it, which silly me, I thought was the whole point of giving them the number. Each time I call I am on hold forever too.
For many years I had Edgepark until they tossed me out which led me to Medtronic, then Liberty followed by Byram. I would rate Byram and Medtronic tied at 1. Edgepark number 3 and liberty 4. I am pretty happy with Byrum.
Really good experience with Byram so far (since March). Update: Still very good service from Byram. The reminder Email is nice, the bills have been accurate and I did even get a couple of samples of infusion sets from my rep. I am happy!
Thanks for the info–very useful for me, too. I was perforce switched from Neighborhood Diabetes (small, individual, office in Joslin Ctr, GREAT!) to Liberty (slow, bureaucratically sclerotic, frustrating, and even actively misleading, HORRIBLE), and now Liberty has been glommed up by Edgepark. I haven’t dealt with them yet but I’m coming up on needing to order infusion sets again. Neighborhood was the in-house service at Joslin when I started pumping so I never had to make any decisions about suppliers and I’m kind of ignorant. Does the process start with your prescriber? Is BCBS agnostic as to suppliers? Maybe I should wait until my 670G order, already in train, is processed? Hate dealing with this stuff…
I will add my two cents that Edgepark (Cardinal Health) is the worst organization I’ve run across in medical products and services in my entire life. Their billing is abysmal, you get a lump sum “You owe us this amount NOW!” with no detail of what your insurance paid, or didn’t pay. Furthermore, even when you’ve agreed to a payment program (pump plus supplies for me) they ignore your payments made to date and always refer to the lump sum.
It’s so bad, I don’t pay them until they provide detailed information which can only be done through a call to me and a CSR talking through the detail. They are the worst of the worst. I’ve dumped Aetna as my insurance company mainly because they forced me into Edgepark. The medical insurance & PBM industry is extremely corrupt, with kickbacks and direct payments for pay to play. They ignore end users/customers in their need to support their $41 million pay package for their CEO. Aetna CEO’s Reward for Pay to Play
DrBB I’ve typically started the process by calling my doctor to give them a heads up that they be receiving a contact from the supplier, then contacting the supplier directly. Good suppliers have people on staff whose job it is to figure out your insurance info and figure out what diagnosis codes/billing codes need to be on the referral and prescription in order to get coverage, often better than the doctor’s office is able to do it, so I’ve found it better for them to contact the doctor to minimize confusion on how to prescribe.
I needed to start with my insurance company, and help from employer to find the right person to help. My coverage is DME, so I needed a distributor that was on the list. But finding that list, and what DME supplies they provided was a challenge.
Oh, I hate to hear all the negatives about Edgepark. I’m on Medicare, and have had Liberty since Medicare stopped using Medtronic as a supplier. I had nothing but truly excellent customer service with Liberty, and I’m dreading what’s going to happen with Edgepark. I wonder if Medicare will accept Byram? Just got a shipment, so I have a couple of months to figure this out.
Of those you mention, I’ve used Byram (before Medicare, for CGM only) and CCS Medical (after Medicare, for MiniMed supplies). Medtronic told me that CCS was my only option for distribution, but I have different insurance, so that’s likely the reason.
I had no problem with Byram until I stopped using them. I didn’t find out until two weeks before I rolled over into Medicare that Insulet has no Medicare contract. I had two weeks to find another pump system to use and arrange ordering and shipping. My endo recommended the MiniMed. Before all this, I had placed an order for Dexcom supplies, but Byram didn’t process the order until after the first of the year, and my new insurance denied it. Byram didn’t contact me, so I could explain the situation. What they did was repeatedly contact my endocrinologist’s office, to the point of becoming verbally abusive to her staff. The office contacted me, told me what was happening, and I called Byram and straightened them out. So, that left me with a bad taste regarding Byram.
I haven’t had a problem with CCS, but I’ve only been using them for 6 months. Orders are placed and supplies received within about a week. That’s not unreasonable, to me.
