Cost of Omnipod PDM in Canada vs US

I know this post is a few months old, but I only discovered it when I was researching the omnipod price. I knew pumps weren’t cheap in Canada, but I thought that was the case everywhere. I was shocked to hear that only us Canadians are being ripped off! I’m originally from Germany and my uncle is a dr there. He was going to get me one and send it out and I would only have to pay 500 euros and shipping. We wanted to make sure that that would work before we got him to purchase one and we’re told by insulet that the Canadian pdm is programmed differently and a German or US. The Canadian pods would not be compatible with the German pdm. The person also told us that health Canada made them have the price close to what other pumps cost (price fixing) we have since emailed health Canada, several reporters, our mp, omnipod themselves and the Canadian diabetes association. Only two provinces get them covered! I’m living in one that doesn’t. Maybe if enough people make a stink, something will change!?

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Curious to hear what response you got from Health Canada and the CDA. I just paid $6300 for the Omnipod controller, after running into brick walls trying to get it elsewhere.

It is pricing control laws. Medtronic and Animas pumps cost around $7,000 so Omnipod is legally required to sell in that range in Canada.

Can Canada use the states PDM because I hav one available?

It will work. The pods are the same, either country’s PDM will work.

Here are the differences between a PDM in Canada versus a U.S. PDM:

  • Warranty difference 5 years in Canada versus 4 years in U.S.

  • BG meter approved for FreeStyle AND FreeStyle Lite in Canada, but in the U.S. it is only approved for the FreeStyle (the BG meter in the PDM is the same, that’s just an example of the FDA’s stupid approval process. Don’t worry, both strips work the same in both!)

  • The blood sugar measurements, mmol/L in Canada versus mg/dl in the U.S.

Anyway, short answer, you can use them interchangeably, as long as you are aware of the BG readings being different units.

I may be wrong on this as it’s only based on what I’ve heard, but my understanding is that the warranty on most pumps in Canada is four years (that was certainly the case with both pumps I’ve had so far). The exception is if a pump is covered under Ontario’s ADP program (the only province with such a program), in which case the program will only cover a new pump every five years, and therefore the pump companies honour a five-year warranty.

I don’t know about other pumps, I’m just mentioning the warranty because that is the info Insulet gave me on Canadian PDM’s - they told me 5 years.

Interesting. If that’s the case, and it’s for all of Canada, then that would be a major advantage over Medtronic or Animas, both of which only have four-year warranties (except for the Ontario ADP program and possibly the one or two other provincial pump programs).

They have a much different revenue model. The PDM is not their money-maker, it is the disposable pods. They could give the PDM’s away and still get $3,600 a year from just pods.

The other companies are much different, they don’t make much on infusion. And until recently, most of infusion supplies used to be interchangeable. Animas, Roche, Tandem infusion sets - any of them could be used for any pump.

Just bought an omnipod in Canada - 5 year warranty. Waiting for a PDM that reads the Libre monitor (SOON available in Canada?!) AND controls the Omnipod, and costs less than $6300.

Have you actually tried it? I would hate to get a pdm outside of Canada only to find out it doesn’t work

I haven’t tried it, but that’s what Insulet told me. They said the pods work the same, only the BG scale is different.

I’d be happy to test it out for you. Do you have Canadian pods? If you send me one, I will gladly use it with my U.S. model PDM. And I can send you a U.S. pod to even it out.

If you want me to try it, PM me your contact info and we can exchange mailing addresses. I’d gladly give it a try to verify it. But based on what I have been told, they are totally compatible.

LOL! I never got a response at all! Guess they don’t know what to tell me

Did you see that you can pre-order the libre now? I just did yesterday :slight_smile:

Technically Dex should be able to install the LibreLink onto the new PDM, which would make the readings way more integrated.

Hi Eddie2, I don’t have any pods as I don’t have a pump yet. I talked to omnipod again mentioning that I had heard that the pods are the same and all of sudden the story was “they work, but you won’t be able to buy them in Canada cause health Canada doesn’t sell them with a pdm from another country blah blah blah!” Somebody seems to be lying here!

If anyone has a Canadian pod here, I’ll pay for the pod and for shipping cost too! It’s worth a try. I
can actually fly my whole family to Germany and buy the pump and still come out ahead with what the pdm costs here!:rage:

Here is something on price fixing: