I need help regarding the change Medicare made regarding testing. I was able to get a supply from Liberty (now out of business) to test more than 1x/day. Now I can only get enough strips to test 1 time per day. This is intolerable as my blood sugars are up and down, I never know.
Any suggestions regarding this problem. We need to start a campaign against this one time per day for type 2 diabetics. Guess Medicare would rather pay for an amputation!!!!!!!!!!!
Nancy:
This is a terrible problem and many of us are facing the same issue. I wish there was a sure thing or things I could tell you to do in order to be successful. We have seen some success with having your doctor and you filing an appeal to the decision. It will take a well written letter from your doctor in order to be successful as well as you filing for an appeal with Medicare.
There is no grantee this will be successful I have seen some members be successful with this approach. The keys are top press on the volatility of your blood sugar and safety issues. You doctor will need to support this in the strongest terms, in their letter. If denied file another appeal. you just have to keep pressing.
Finally please wrote your congressman and mention the need to cover CGM's and additional test strips. The only way we can have a collective impact is to press the issue in every way possible.
I wish you the very best and i am sorry you are having to do this.
A letter from your endocrinologist stating you have hypo unawareness (lows without knowing) and require a certain number of test strips to adequately control your D is a good place to start. But in the meantime, you could go to Walmart and invest in a Relion meter for $20 or so and pick up some test strips I think they run about $10 for 50 strips which is a heck of a lot cheaper than any of the other companies. The ADA Guidelines for treatment regarding SMBG (Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose) for PWD is this. "Based principally on the DCCT (diabetes control and complications trial) results, it is recommended that most individuals with diabetes should attempt to achieve and maintain blood glucose levels as close to normal as is safely possible. Because most patients with type 1 diabetes can achieve this goal only by using SMBG, all treatment programs should encourage SMBG for routine daily monitoring. Daily SMBG is especially important for patients treated with insulin or sulfonylureas to monitor for and prevent asymptomatic hypoglycemia. Frequency and timing of glucose monitoring should be dictated by the needs and goals of the individual patient, but for most patients with type 1 diabetes, SMBG is recommended three or more times daily. The optimal frequency of SMBG for patients with type 2 diabetes is not known, but should be sufficient to facilitate reaching glucose goals. When adding to or modifying therapy, type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients should test more often than usual. The role of SMBG in stable diet-treated patients with type 2 diabetes is not known. "
And you are totally right about Medicare preferring to pay for complications, than they are to pay for a way to prevent them. They're more than willing to shell out for amputations, kidney dialysis, and retinal laser treatments than they are a few extra test strips a day. It is shocking and imho just plain wrong.