Okay so here’s the deal, I decided on an animas pump after my endo says I would be a great dcandidate. So I researched and picked that one… The CDE helped me fill out the form and faxed it to animas. Animas called that same day and told me that my insurance works with a third party provider called CCS medical. Animas said they would send the information to them and they would work with my doctor and insurance company. It took a week to hear from CCS medical and even then only because I called them. The guy was very nice and said he was going to fax my dr the forms for the insurance prior authorization. He did and my doctors office faxed it back the very next day.
Then a week later ccs requested more info fromy doctor which was now over a week ago. Drs office said they sent it in right away. It’s beeen 3 weeks since I started this process and animas called today to say that CCS medical is still waiting for paperwork from my doctor. I told her this has been going on her 3 weeks now and the CCS guy hasn’t even filed anything with my insurance company which I know because I have called the insurance company multiple times to ask.
Anyone work with a third party provider before? Anyone have any idea how to make this go faster. I feel like the longer it takes the more likely it is I am going to be not approved.
I know it takes different period of time for different people but I feel like someone should at least have done something by now!n
I have no great advice for you except to talk with the CCS guy again, find out exactly what he needs, have him send the stuff to your doctor again, and have them submit it again. Hopefully people who have had similar problems will have some advice.
I live in Minneapolis and my endo's office is superb at completing paperwork and jumping through all the hoops to get my pump, CGMS, etc. It is a large practice and they are extremely organized and have lots of experience with the pump companies.
I'm kind of surprised that the CCS guy isn't more on the ball because his company makes money by making sure you get your pump and then buy lots of supplies from them.
Call your insurance company and ask if there is another 3rd party supplier you can deal with. If you can't, then call the CCS guy every day to "check on progress" until you get your pump. I'm a non-confrontational person but I've had to fight some battles over diabetes care.
I deal with 3 different 3rd party suppliers - one for my OmniPod pods (Diabetes Management Supply), one for my Dexcom sensors (PumpsIt), and now one for test strips and supplies (Liberty). Pet peeve...why can't I get it all from one supplier when they all carry all of these items. I have found through my experience that all 3rd party suppliers are not equal.
PumpsIt has been great. Dexcom had me approved within a couple of days and had the PumpsIt rep call me. I had my supplies within the same week.
DMS has been inconsistent at best. They had worked with my doc before on OmniPod approvals so that went well. When I got my OmniPod, I also got a supply of Freestyle test strips to use with the OmniPod PDM through DMS. When I was ready to re-order test strips I called DMS and they quoted me an out of pocket copay cost for the test strips that was double my copay at Walgreens. The DMS rep argued with me and was adamant that the price was the price.
So I called my insurance company to see why the test strip copay prices were different and they told me that if I went through Liberty then I would have no out of pocket cost for test strips, lancets, alcohol swabs. Of course, then I called DMS back to tell them to cancel my order since I was getting my test strips free.
All of a sudden, DMS changed their tune. The lady told me "we are a small company and in reviewing your record, I see that we can probably get you your test strips at no cost". What the heck?! All that and now they are free? I politely declined her offer because I don't trust them any more.
Hi. I agree with smileandnod about the squeaky-wheel approach if you stay with CCS. My experience with them was one of rudeness, so I found another company. Solara Medical supplies is ok so far. Definitely quick and responsive. I'm less than a month into it, though so I can't be sure how they'll be long term. Good luck!
Sorry to hear you are having this trouble. I received my pump through CCS as well, but I got a medtronic pump; however, I don't think that should make a difference. It took about two weeks from the time I decided to get the pump to the time it was delivered. Medtronic and my endo's office moved fairly quickly. I received a call from the medtronic rep the day after the office filed the paperwork. He called again three days later to inform me that I would receive my pump through CCS and that a CCS rep would call me in 3-5 days, of course it took 4 days to receive a call from CCS and the pump was delivered 2 days later.
I would have to agree that if the doctor has signed the paperwork you might need to light a fire under CCS. Someone out there might have better insight into this than I do, but maybe your animas rep could help you since they are trying to gain and keep you as a customer as well.
I worked through Kaiser Permanente, They have a totally different system and it is more complicated than most. Working with Animas was always difficult and required calling for verify orders even for my regular supply orders. Sometimes orders were cancelled for no reason. Sometimes they were just not filled. Its hard to know where the trouble was in that process. It is difficult to pinpoint because I have a doctor, and insurance co, a durable med supplier, and a pump company.
Two months ago when I was ready for a new pump, Animas never responded to my calls for info. They offered me a loaner pump because the buttons on my pump were failing. I did all the paperwork but it never showed up. That was direct to Animas too,
Finally I told my insurance company to go with Medtronic because it was taking too long. Three days later I had my Medtronic pump.
Animas used to be a great company and had great customer service. in the past 2 years it has been awful, I really don't understand why. The pumps the make are good, but the service is not. I had 4 years of no trouble with my pump. It was not until it was almost 6 years old that the buttons wore out.
You might try to tell Animas that you are considering another manufacturer and they will likely contact CCS and get it worked out.
Update, After calling both CCS medical and Animas every day for the past 4 days, CCS called and said the paperwork has been submitted to the insurance company and they should give the prior authorization in the next 14 days at most, the guy was hopeful that it would come much sooner though so hopefully!!!... I'll let you all know.
Okay, I am holding my breath right now.... So excited I can barely breath at the moment here... I got a letter in the mail today from my insurance company saying I have been approved for my insulin pump!!!!
At first I didn't believe it, but I called the insurance company and the wonderful lady at customer service said she has no idea what changed between Friday (when they said they needed more information and lab work), and today but it is in fact approved.
So, here I sit waiting VERY VERY impatiently for the medical supply company to call me back so I can find out what is going on and why they haven't shipped it already!
Great news!! Yeah, they do that sometimes. It's odd and I have no idea why they do it, but good news regardless!! If you can, see if they can send you some sample infusion sets to try out (along with whatever your doctor is prescribing). And pin down who your pump trainer is. For me, that was the hardest part - scheduling with the pump trainer.
Supposively I have to wait for the actual pump to arrive before I can pin down my trainer... but it shipped today so it should be here FRIDAY!!! I am SOOO excited!
SmileandNod...I, like you, have dealt with DMS and Liberty. At this point, I'm getting all my supplies from Liberty, pump, testing and CGM supplies. It is so much easier to get everything at one place.
