I finally called Medtronic to order my new pump on Monday 5/16/11 and guess when my pump warranty expired on my current pump? I thought it was in April and freaked out about it over my vacation, but no my pump warranty expired on the day I called 5/16/11, how freaky is that???
Well I left a message and no one ever called back so I called again today to get things rolling and I was a bit unhappy with all the insurance verification questions
Any trouble with current pump? NO
Does battery last as long? hmmm hey NO
Any scratches? NO
What is your lowest and highest number, what the heck? 40 and 269, who gives a crap, grrr!!!
Any heart, kidney, or eye problems, hey leave me alone already!!!
Do you recognize when you are low?? NOOOOOOOO, but thinking kind of yes, but just not the shakes rattles and sweats I use to get, more that I cannot focus, but I just told this dude NO
Do you have lows over night, well yes, crap why is he asking me all this stuff and lows overnight only if I have a snack, jerk!!!
Do you wake up with high bloodsugars, I decided to lie, well NO!!
Hey dude if this pump is working is my insurance not gonna let me get a new one??? I want one now cause not sure about my insurance for next year and I took out flex spending money for this year for pump.
Okay I was totally pissed and felt like a loser diabetic.
I sympathize with you, Karen. It’s not just pump manufacturers or insurance companies who are reconsidering pump replacement policies. I went to see my endocrinologist today and asked about a replacement pump, since mine is 4+ years old and out of warranty. (You need to know I am very recently on Medicare.) He told me Medicare will not approve a replacement pump until my current pump fails. So it may be 5 years, or 6 years, or ??
Of course, when it does fail, then it will be a crisis – I will have to revert to MDI until a replacement can be procured.
I can’t get my new one til August but I got sooooo upset when they (at MM) shipped me some mios I knew how to put the insulin in the pump quit telling me over the phone how to do it!!! Anyway he told me every move to make getting it ready to put the Mio in the pump but NOT how to put it into my skin. (He didn’t know how to do that so I came here) Yep those little guys flustrate the …ugh…crap out of you!
I really like them. I’ve been pumping for 23 years now and after I finally figured out what I was doing with inserting them they seemed to get my bs back to where it was suppost to be.
I got the same drill a couple of months ago when I called. It must be their regular questionnaire, so they can try to get insurance to cover it… I was tempted to lie to them and say my normal range is 40-400, my current pump is so scratched up that I can’t read it, and that the battery lasts a day and a half. But I didn’t, and my insurance covered it anyway.
Unfortunately, the question they DIDN’T ask was which model I wanted. I had assumed, since I was replacing a 515 (500 series = smaller reservoir) one, that I’d get a new 523. Instead, they sent me the larger 723, and I had a severe case of buyers’ remorse until I saw what I had received. I then called them up and explained that I wanted the 523, not the 723, and after a bit of “but you can still use your same reservoir in the larger one … it’s good in case your doses increase …”, they agreed to send me a smaller pump, provided I send the other one back.
A bit of a pain in the butt, but it all worked out in the end.
Now I think I want to go back to the smaller pump, I went bigger last time because I was using a lot more insulin than I do now, but… I have a lot of supplies left, guess I will have to stay with the 723, welll if I pass the insurance test.
I wonder about some of the questions are because they are angling to pitch you on CGM? I relate to how you felt. I despise talking about diabetes in any way with any non-T1.even though this was a pump rep. On the plus side, it sounds like your old pump has served you well.
Karen, I also do not understand those questions and their relationship to getting a new pump. If the insurance policy has new criteria, then why aren’t they the ones who ask the questions? It sounds like you want to get one before your insurance changes, therefore, I would push for that.
I get ticked when they ask my last BG reading when I call with a pump problem, which is seldom. The reading has nothing to do with whatever problem I am calling about.
Gerry,
Medicare requires you keep your pump 5 years. However, if it becomes damaged or stops working, they will approve a new one. That is my understanding. I am at 5 years and 5 months with my pump. I am in no hurry. Though I think the Revel has some new features that I will like, it also has more button pushes that I know I won’t like. So I am letting nature take it’s course, so to speak.
Gerry, be sure to work with a rep who will make sure you get a new pump when yours is replaced, not a refurb. Us Medicare folks get the refurbs unless we kick up a fuss.
Insurance is SO frustrating! It’s like they are playing a game, and you have to be smarter than they are. I’m even MORE terrified of Medicare. I hate the idea of bureaucrats making decisions which affect both my quality and quantity of life!
Anway, keep up the good fight, and as my father used to say, non illegitimi carborundum (don’t let the bastards wear you down!)
I plan to just keep using my pump until it reaches it’s last gasp on it’s own, so I thought maybe all of us pumpers just need to “pump together” so to speak when we have to answer all these questions and all give the same replies - such as -
problems? No, only when the cat thinks it’s a mouse and pounces on it, ripping it out carries the pump off to kill it
battery? well, depends on how much I use it for a night light to read in bed with
scratches? see reply above re cat and mouse
numbers? above 0 and HI
kindey,heart,etc? I am speaking, guess the heart is beating
lows? No, I was born this way
lows over night? I have no clue, I’m asleep
Morning highs? Yes, Saturday and Sunday mornings (lol)
It is annoying though, they are not my doctor are they?
Good luck Karen. Hope all works out with insurance and MM!
Medicare is OK for some people. I have a friend who takes an anti-anemia medication which costs many thousands of dollars a year, and they pay it without blinking. It’s DIABETICS who take the brunt, because this society doesn’t appreciate the seriousness of the disease. After all, we LOOK healthy, until the complications set in, and then there is all the money for hospitalizations and accommodations for disabilities.
Me, I want to stay healthy and then drop dead when it’s my time – and the only way I can do that is to have my equipment for control. I don’t know what part of that Medicare doesn’t get.
MM called me today, we are a go for a new pump, but I have not met my deductible yet with ins, but I have my flex spending account to cover that. Some charges have not hit my insurance yet, so MM is calling me back next week, not that it really matters. They did say they are waiting on my endo, I see him next Tuesday wonder if he will fill out the paperwork without SEEING ME FIRST??!!
I’m even MORE terrified of Medicare. I hate the idea of bureaucrats making decisions which affect both my quality and quantity of life!
I oughta try that some time!