Oh, yes they WILL pay for it. You just have to go through the dance: First, your MD submits a PAR (Prior Authorization Request), then they deny it with some fake garbage about “still experimental”, or “not medically necessary”. Then comes the real letter, we show them EXACTLY HOW you and your lawyer will get them hung “by the short hairs” in Civil Court, if/when you are “forced” by their arbsurd denial to file a lawsuit to make them cover this MEDICALLY NECESSARY and EFFECTIVE treatment. (And yes, you will mention punitive damages here.)
Nighttime hypos are the absolutely strongest claim of need for CGMS treatment, exactly as you have described: You crash a lot, and the permanent sleep disruption created by the necessary testing regimen is itself a serious medical problem, putting “both myself and others at serious risks of hypo-induced accidents”. It also makes a significant quality-of-life issue, dragging through every single day after badly disrupted sleep every single night. Your wife, too. And these problems can be largely AVOIDED by this treatment.
You will not need to file a lawsuit, they will cave in when they see all this stuff you threaten to use, in conjuction with the personal threat I’mn about to describe.
You will, however, probably have to go through two levels of appeals-- the first denial comes from an administrative flunkey, it’s just part of the game and doesn’t really count for anything. (A level-1 appeal, with most companies, is merely “did you reject this because I typed something wrong, or did you really mean it?”). The one which really counts is the second one. This is where they promise to provide a medically-qualified opinion, and you will win by warning them (in advance) that you will probably go to the licensing board of the MD who dares to claim that this treatment “is not medically necessary”, or is somehow “experimental”, for your particular case.
The PAR from your MD basically pleads for coverage. The phrase which pays, in the last letter, is “practicing beyond the scope of his competence”, and they will be TERRIFIED by the threat of a Board Inquiry into this issue. When an MD is investigated by a medical board, they have to talk about the whole incident every time they get a license renewal-- even if they have moved to another State, and even if it was 30 years ago. THAT’S why they’ll cave; no MD will put his signature on another denial.
SO, the only remaining question is: Are you in an extremely small group plan, or other situation which would make it unattractive to FORCE insurance coverage in this way?