my husband has nicknamed me âBeeps A-Lotâ
Hi, My name is Ăyvind and i live in Bergen Norway. I use CoPilot software with Freestyle Liite
My husband has nicknamed me âThe Borg Queenâ
Angi,
haha my boyfriend just calls me a cyborgâŚI guess heâs old fashoned 
Alicia,
I like that one!!! I love how our significant others nick name us in regards to our devices
I was approved by insurance for the Navigator back in November, but I had to wait a few weeks until the supplier, Apria medical, had anything to ship. They were supposed to send me a 3 months supply, but in November, December, and January they came up with different reasons that I could only purchase supplies for 1 month (6 sensors) and I had to pay my insurance deductible in advance. And they always understimate my coverage and I wind up overpaying, etc. I thought this was silly and unheard of, and my insurance company says this is not how my policy is set up, but whatever. Apria managed to send sensors eventually. But here on March 9, I am out of sensors. I have called and asked since the end of Feburary, and I am told that they will have to call me back. No calls or explanation from them for a week now, but I keep calling.
So what is happening here - is Abbott unable to produce and ship anything? Is Apria in dire financial straits and needs money up front and canât afford to keep anything in stock? Are they both incompetent with no customer service?
Has anyone else experienced this?
Greg, check out the article about Apria Healthcare Group Inc. at the following URL.
Thanks Gerhart. Before reading your link I was afraid it was going to descibe some financial calamity at Apria. So they are possibly going through some changes after a merger last fall. It might why a medical supplier is unable to supply medical items, or canât get their act together. I hope it improves.
I have been denied on my first insurance appeal.
I have Medicare Plus Blue, which is an Avantage plan with BC/BS as my carrier- Michigan.
Hard to imagine anyone needing a CGM more than I. Very disappointed. Any advice on my next appeal would be great, especially if your familiar with my insurance.
My doctor doesnt really know what a CGM is. I, though have gotten his ok to get one. What can I put on the statement of medical necessity to help my insurance to approve the meter. They say they will cover it, but I want to CMA. Also I have decided to get the Freestyle Navigator, How many strips will I need a month?
Jim, I have Anthem BCBS they covered my CGM with no problem. Medtronic helped a ton but I am sure all the CGM manufacturers would also. What MM told me to do was to write down my BGâs for the last 3 months showing the lowâs and the highs despite constant testing and corrections. Also I wrote a short paragraph on the health benefits and financial benefits of better control for me and them.
Did you do something like that and still denied?
David, you may want to do something like I did and have the CGM manufacture help. The strips depend on how often you test. I test alot but that is not on account of my CGM that is on account of my BG not doing well. I use about 12-15 a day
Be loved
Involved with my 2nd appeal. Have Dexcom trial CGM for one wk. Was leaning towards Navigator. Now not sure, at all. Doc likes Dexcom cause he can download results to his office. Do any other models? Sure donât like the Navigator falling off remarks. All opinions would be great.
Thanks
Laura, Been diabetic 57 yrs., even though Iâm still extremely young. Ahem!
Been keeping detailed log books for decades, along with my meter, even what I had for dinner posted. I submitted 90 days of log book entries which clearly showed my highs and lows, ghlucagon shots, and severity of lows. Iâm a detail freak when it comes to this stuff.
Letter from my doc., copies of ambulance runs to my home, and pharmacy copy of Glucacon Kit purchases, which I am injected with way to much due to my hypo. unawareness.
With all this, 57 pgs., I was routinely denied, with a lame remark, which might have been stamped on their denial sheet.
I donât get hurt, I get mad. Gathering powerful accomplices.
Jim
I am a T1 for 56 years and wear a minimed 722,I have been using a Dexcom 7 since Aug 2007 and went thru the denial process. Dexcom did assist in the process. For the second appeal my husband wrote a letter documenting, from his prospective, my struggles to manage my Diabetes as new technologies came along. On September 9, 2008 a study funded by JDRF was published which showed people who use CGMâs have improved A1câs. He included excerpts from that study in his letter. Anthem BC approved use of a cgm and reimbursed some of the cost (they are now contracted with Dexcom and pay for the sensors). Iâm approaching two years and would like to move up to the seven + system. Hereâs a link about the study
Karen
I have just had a very frustrating 48 hours. Had to change my MM sensor - Sunday 8:00 am. My pump gets into the cycles of Cal Error, Meter BG, BG now, Cal Error then eventually Bad Sensor. I then switch the whole Sensor feature âoffâ for several hours to allow it to âre-setââŚtry again,âŚsame thingâŚcut a long story short, after two sensors and not getting anywhere called the 800 Minimed help line. I hate these people, they always tell you an excuse (sell the sensor is not wet enough - how wet can it possibly be after 48 hours !!!) then they try the good old one of well your BGâs are changing too quicklyâŚwell I uploaded my pump info to the carelink site and you can see my BG NOT going up or down rapidly. Meanwhile the âIsigâ reading will not go over 10. My pump rep says that it has to be over 10. Now the help line say it is OK at â2.3â, 7.2 etc. So now we go through removing the transmitter and testing that with attaching it to the âtesterâ and the ISIG goes up to 23.00 WELL, duh, finally, duh,âŚafter wasting 48 hours the help line tells me I have a âbad sensorâ and will replace it⌠What does one have to do to convince these people that there are such things as âfaultyâ âbadâ sensorsâŚno matter what you do , you cannot get it working. Needless to say, I went through two sensors and they will only replace ONE. When are they going to realize that while technology is wonderful, it can very often be faulty. I HATE having to call these people and try and âout-smartâ themâŚthe system is great when it works, but NOT so GREAT when it failsâŚneedless to say I have inserted the third sensor today and it is now workingâŚ
Sheila
Some of the people on the Minimed help line are misinformed.
The Isig number will be low if your blood sugars are close to normal (or low) and the Isig number goes higher when your blood sugars rise. I have been told to not get too wrapped up in what the Isig number is.
I share your frustrations, but still love the cgms when it is working! I am now so dependent on itâI get frustrated when my sensor stops working and I have to go back to testing my blood sugar every hour or two. It is such a beautiful thing when the sensor âworksâ and so frustrating when it doesnât! : )
Hi folks,
I added a blog, Itâs been a while⌠talking about my first month with the Medtronic CGMS
Diabetes Health posted a fairly comprehensive article on continuous monitoring last week for those of you who are interested: http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2009/06/29/6257/get-the-facts-on-continuous-glucose-monitoring-/
Itâs one of the better explanations Iâve seen of how we use the devices and whatâs available to users.
Sheila, I know exactly how you feel. I kept getting Cal Error and Meter BG and then finally a Bad Sensor message today, after wearing it for 3 1/2 days. That, and it kept waking me up at night with Low BG messages, and when I tested it was never lower than 105. Most of the time it seemed to be at least 30 units off. I just got the sensor, and Iâm not sure that I want to continue using it.