Dexcom Delays Medicare Coverage of G6

Dave44, yes, it IS my choice. Part of my decision not to go to a G5 has to do with its features that I don’t like: the way the sensor is inserted, the calibration requirement, and some of the other features the G6 has that the G5 does not have. I like what the G6 does in terms of the alarms, trending, insertion, etc. However, that is not the primary reason I will probably give up on the G6 CGM right now. I could choose to pay for it myself, but the system would cost me approximately $5000/ year. I have lived with T1 for 53 years as of this coming April, and I have lived without a CGM for 52 1/2 years just fine. The CGM is very helpful but not imperative to my survival. I use the OmniPod pump. After insurance coverage, the OmniPod will cost me approximately $1440/ year. The pump (or another insulin-delivery system) IS imperative to my survival, and I can pay for 3 1/2 years of the pump with the money I save by not buying the G6 without Medicare coverage. Dexcom chooses to put profit over patient care because they have the option to do so. I am not rich. I choose to spend my medical budget in a fashion that will best serve my medical needs.

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Dexcom operated at a loss for many years as they invested to develop the science and technology. Just recently they started to operate with a profit which obviously they have to do in order to contunue as a going conern. They are not a nonprofit charity.

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I did not mean to imply that Dexcom should give their systems away for free or at a non-profit price. They simply seem to be moving in a direction that is starting to put large profits ahead of delivering product to their older, loyal customers. I am glad that Dexcom is growing and is improving their CGMs with each new model. In time, when I can get their system at a price I can afford, I will probably go back to them. For now, I will use what I have on hand and then just wait – probably until 2020, if I am reading their new Q4 Medicare delivery promise correctly – before I try it again.

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I guess I am either dense or I didn’t read all of your posts correctly. I thought you had insurance coverage for g5. Is that incorrect? Personally I am so thankful that a company developed such accurate sensors and I am especially thankful that Medicare decided to cover the best sensors on the planet

As of March 1, I am covered by Medicare with a supplementary insurance. Medicare will cover the G5, which I choose not to use. It will not cover (yet) on Medicare the G6 which is the only Dexcom CGM I have ever used. I am fairly new to the Dexcom game. And, of course, if Medicare does not cover something, then my supplementary insurance will not touch it either. I am thankful that Medicare finally will cover the OmniPod pump. I have had excellent results with the OmniPod and will certainly stay with that. At this time, I will use what G6 supplies I have and then just wait for the announcement in late 2019 or early 2020 when Dexcom decides the cover the G6 on Medicare.

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ah, got it. So you don’t think much of the idea of temporarily using the G5 until such time (maybe late this year according to the newest rumors) as Medicare covers the G6?

This is not rumor, but latest Dexcom announcement on their website:
When will the G6 System be available to Medicare customers?

“Dexcom will start shipping G6 to all Medicare customers in Q4 2019.”

See attached linkDexcom-FAQ-Medicare

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Nope. I’ll wait for Dexcom to get enough stock to cover the G6 through Medicare. I have enough supplies to take me into mid-April on the G6. After that, I will revert to my old system of finger sticks to stay in control until Medicare offers the G6 to all of us.

Firstly, it’s not Medicare who are delaying the rollout of the g6. Secondly, there is nothing wrong with the g5. I actually prefer it over the g6, but my Tandem pump won’t utilize all of it’s features unless the g6 is in use. Stopping the use of CGM just because you can’t have the latest and greatest version for a few months is just plain stupid.

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It is funny, because those of us that are totally obsessed and hooked on our Dexcom CGM’s were in a lot of cases fairly well in control before CGM. Yes, CGM allows us to tweak our treatment and lets us see perfect days that we know we did not have before CGM, but I am sure that if I had to be without CCM now for a couple of months I would scream bloody murder but with all the gained knowledge would probably not increase my A1C by more than .4-.5%. I have met several T1’s and scratched my head when they tell me they used the CGM for a few months and then due to inconvenience ditched it. We lived without CGM in the past and could certainly live under fairly tight control for a few months if we had to.

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Except, she’s not losing it. She has Medicare, that will cover the g5, which works very well for millions of other people around the world. She doesn’t want the g5, because in her own words, it’s old. I think this rationale is stupid and wreaks of first world entitlement problems. If I had to start using the g5 again, I wouldn’t care. Shows you two very different mindsets.

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Yes, we all have differing opinions and that is what is great about this forum. We can learn and accept or dismiss for ourselves anything anyone posts. I do wish we would not sink to the level of calling individuals or their ideas stupid just because we don’t agree with them. I have seen too many valuable people or people in serious need leave this forum because they felt belittled or ridiculed. In the long run, when someone leaves, it is our loss, not theirs. You never know when you will pick up an invaluable nugget of information coming at you from what may first appear as a totally weird post.

Let’s play nice!!! We all win.

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And that’s your opinion

Agreed.

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It actually would be a greater learning curve going backwards from the G6 to the G5 if the G6 is the only Dexcom cgm you have ever used.

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It’s also the opinion of the Admins and our community guidelines. Disagreement is ok, ridicule is not. Please take note.

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Thank you, ridiculing someone’s opinion is not the way, after all it is an opinion.

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He’ll I still use an enlite chm and like it, also use freestyle libre 10 day but probably won’t use 10 day anymore. And going to probably go on g6 when I upgrade pump to x-slim after control IQ comes out.

You’re right about Medicare not being the reason for the G6 delay. Dexcom had a green light back in October of 2018 to distribute the G6. They decided to wait until April 2019, a self-imposed delay, I guess to pre-empt out-of-stock situations. They did say they needed that time to build up inventories.

I’m still using the G4 and it performs remarkably well. I agree that, in general, I would much rather have some model Dexcom than no Dexcom.

Each of us is unique in our physiologies, economic situations, and personal management styles. I agree with most others here that adding ridicule to the conversation creates a lot of unnecessary distraction and noise. It can also cause people to withdraw from the forum and isolation is one the reasons we gather here in the first place.

I’ve been posting here for ten years now. I consider this place special since we seem to be able to keep inevitable conflicts to a minimum. I trust you can adjust and understand the rationale that is used to administer this place.

When I read comments in a thread that irritate me, I try to hold back from writing and come back to that thread at least a few hours later, preferably the next day. Often times by then my emotional disposition has cooled and I can choose to ignore the comment or write a much more persuasive (and polite) rebuttal. You never have to retract politeness!

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One of the reasons that I often come to this forum is that even after 50+ years of being a T1, I learn new things. I also like the forum because it does not accept name-calling and ridicule of opinions. I thank those who have reiterated that rule in this post. As the title of my post states, Dexcom is the one who delayed allowing users to get the G6 through Medicare coverage, not Medicare itself. I am very new to a CGM, having controlled my T1 quite well all of these years without one. I decided to try the G6 when it came out not because I thought it was new or better than the G5 (both work well) but because the sensor application was very similar to the Pod application of the OmniPod I have been using for a decade, the finger sticks were less (and I have scarred fingertips after years of testing) since the G6 requires no calibration, it more accurately blocks acetaminophen disruption, and the sensor lasts 10 days. I just learned how to use the G6 and how it reacts to my body, so I do not want to reintroduce a G5 learning curve if I will be able to get the G6 within a year. Experience tells me that while I love the trending feature and not doing multiple finger sticks each day by using the CGM, I can control my blood sugar without it. Am I disappointed that Dexcom is not releasing the G6 to Medicare now? Yes. Do I know that I could get the G5 if I chose to do so? Yes. So while I won’t try to learn the G5 or spend the money on the G6 now until I have insurance coverage for the system under Medicare, I know that I am blessed to be in a country where those decisions are mine to make. And, thankfully, my decisions affect no one’s healthcare but my own. I started this post just to let you all know that Dexcom has delayed releasing the G6 for Medicare coverage and that is what this forum is all about: sharing information, discussing failures and successes, and giving support.

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