I am a type 2 diabetic, I use Janumet, amaryl, diet and exercise to control my diabetes. I test three/four times a day.
Yesterday the nurse from the clinic I go to, called and asked me about my diabetic supplies. When we got to strips, she said, that there is a “mandate” that if you test more than twice a day, they need a reason why. Interesting. I was told to test 3 times a day, and four if i felt the need to do it. I don’t like poking my fingers or hands or arms at all so I’m not going to be doing this every hour of the day. But I explained to her that if I have a low I am going to test after treating it, (or even a high) to make sure that I am going in the right direction. I thought that made sense to me, and she felt that it did too. But she says the insurance companies think that once is enough to test for someone who is in control…hmmmm. Do they understand diabetes at all? Do they know that you can change being in control to not being in control in a short matter of time? I’m thinking they don’t know squat.
Has anyone else ever encountered being told that your supplies won’t be covered or additional supplies won’t be covered because you test too often? Just wonderin’.
my doctor wrote a perscription for my strips that says I think 4 or 5 tests daily and haven’t had an issue. ask your doc to write a script and fight like hell if the insurance company gives you grief
I think doctors give you prescriptions for strips based on your stage in diabetes. Me being a T1 I get 400 strips over a 3 month period which works for me but my issue is I would like to be able to stock insulin. They dont allow you to get nothing more than a month at a time or a set amount. I would like the option to get more to keep for just in case. I read on here most people just buy more strips, amazon.com sells cheap ones…
They can’t seem to make the connection between more frequent testing and better control. Are they leaving diet out of the equation? How can I know how food effects me without testing? They should be encouraging frequent testing because in the long run it should save them money.
The problem that many insurance companies have with certain D patients is fraud. These patients will order a lot of test strips every month, use very few, and sell the residual overstock over the Internet at sites such as Ebay. Patients who practice this kind of fraud are partially to blame for insurance rates going up and for insurance companies placing tighter controls on D supplies. Therefore, the insurance companies are not necessarily the bad guys here. They are victims too, and they are instituting controls to mitigate the fraud and to keep insurance costs and rates in check.
It’s too bad that the dishonesty of some patients affects us all.
You can have an insulin script written differently as well. My script say Maximum of 120 unites a day. I actually use 50ish. So I get way more than I need (I don’t even renew that script every month).
Actually when you buy strips on ebay they ALWAYS list the expiration date. E-bay works by sellers getting good approvals, so they are honest and sometimes give pictures showing the box with its expiration.
I get 900 for a 3 month period as a type 1. My insurance didn’t debate this when my doctor submitted it, but I’ve heard people having doctors write overrides requesting more of the insurance company and it works.
It is usually an actual medical supply company that have a Amazon account. People rate them and there is usually a website. I always check the dates, never had any old ones plus with Amazon you can report it and return if it is no good…For a 100 count strips it will cost $50 whereas if you buy in the stores it is at least $100…
I asked my doctor for 10 tests a day. He wrote it, and my insurance approved it. I imagine that I could probably ask for more, but my pharmacy occasionally cannot fill my 90 day script because they might not have enough strips in stock.
