I have only been diagnosed with type 1 for about a year now, but I really want an insulin pump for better control if the disease and overall better health. I currently have no insurance and am wondering I’d there is a way in which to get a pump without it. Any comments or recommendations would be helpful! Thanks!
You may want to ask the pump companies if they have any special kind of assistance program/payment plan, etc. I’m not sure of the answer!
They do have discounts for the pump, call the company and the local rep will get ahold of you. It’s till not cheap and the supplies are never discounted very much. The pump at cash price will still run something like $4000-6000 and supplies around 200-400 a month depending on which company. That’s what I think I remember from a quote I got this summer. This is down from over $10,000-12,000 for the insurance rate for the pump. You can also pay by the month for a year, I have a friend who did that. Good Luck!
Thanks for the advice!!!
You can always get a pump, with or without insurance. I know that the OmniPod gives discounts for those without insurance, I think it’s about $350 a month. They’re always willing to take money, whether they get it from insurance or you directly.
I’m sure of that!!! I’m particularly interested in the omnipod so that’s good news! Thanks very much for the reply!!!
I know Animas will offer discounted pumps. My understanding is they do it based on your situation (no set rule). My rep told me he had someone in his area that they gave a pump for no cost, I highly doubt this happens very often though.
Also, I am pretty sure that the MM and Animas go for around $6,000 in the US and the Omni is somewhere around $1,000 start up but you pay a good deal more monthly for ongoing supplies. I did the math once and after 2.5 years or so the cost of the Omni and Aniimas/MM are about the same but in 4 years the Omni will overall cost more (I can’t remember but I may have been factoring in what insurance will pay as well on that one). I know MM and Animas have an online store where you can check on monthly costs of supplies but not sure if Omni does or not.
Knowing what I know now if I ever lost insurance I would find a way to pay for a pump.
well, Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any used one’s … I wanted one just to replace my Basal- Lantus and now Levimire…
But I also found most using a Pump Did NOT Improve their BG’s as much as they thought they would and they have their problems as well.
It still comes down to the basic’s… and Just following them… which is the Biggest Problem for most of us…
Have you Gotten and read the Book> Think Like a Pancrease?
ave 5.5% in summer and 6% A1c’s in winter, for rmany yrs now… using Nlog and Levimire Pens , testing 8-10x a day…
I agree with Dennis. My A1C will actually be “worse” on a pump. As much as the pump is infinitely more convenient, it is infinitely complicated and frustrating. If you are in good control, it could end up being a wash. I save time not having to get a pen needle ready before each injection, but lose all of that time and then some when I have to change out a site. The lows on a pump, for me at least, are harder to predict than with lantus/humalog. Every once in awhile there will be someone on the site who is upgrading their pump and will have an “extra one”, but because of the legality of giving away Rx devices, it can get kind of tricky to find them. Post something in your profile that you are looking for an inexpensive pump, keep your ear to the (under)ground and with some luck you might be able to find one.
SuFu