I got a letter from Express Scripts a few days ago that they would no longer cover NovaLog and I have to switch to Humalog which I don't see as a big deal. BUT as I read further they are no longer going to cover the test strips for my OmniPod which are the Abott Freestyle strips. I did speak with a person in Customer service and they told me that I can file a request to continue with the medications that I'm using which would include the test strips. I REALLY don't want to have to carry another meter around and that is one of the reasons I decided on OmniPod, but now my insurance is saying I would have to pay for the strips at full cost. HAS anyone been successful at getting your insurance to allow the use of the Freestyle strips after they've told you they would no longer cover them??
When I changed insurance companies I was dismayed to see that they only had a couple of test strips options listed. However, I dug around their site and they did have a form that your doctor filled out for making an exception. There was even a statement on the site that said that they might make exceptions for kinds of test strips that have embedded meters in pumps. My doctor filled out the form stating my case, faxed it in, and within a week I had a letter from my insurance saying that it was approved. I have to get that form filled out by my doctor each year, but oh well!
Yes - we were successful. Our doctor just made an appeal that those were the only strips that functioned with my son's insulin pump and the insurance company gave us an exception.
All I had to do was call and tell them my pump requires the freestyle and they ok’d it immediately.
I used to go to my local CVS/Pharmacy to get my strips and my insurance would not allow the Freestyle no matter what my doctor sent in. When I finally found a supplier that accepted my insurance for the pods, the supplier asked if I needed strips. As it turned out, my insurance magically allowed Freestyle through that supplier. I admittedly have no idea why.
So, another option for you might be to poke around with different suppliers. Good luck!
We have not yet received the letter but I am sure it is coming. We currently get our strips with our pump supplies through CCS so I would have to assume our Free Style strips will still be covered. Insulin on the other hand we get from Express Scripts so I am guessing we will have to change back to Humalog instead. Very disappointing since my dd didn't do as well with Humalog as she does with the Apidra.
You might check to see if they are covered as a non preferred item. The cost would be more, but if you add Freestyle's Promise program to that it should bring the cost down to normal. I use that setup right now. Costs me about $15 per 10 boxes of strips.