Insurance not covering Contour Next Test Strips

Medicare covers the strips, but no one on the approved list sells them by mail order. However, you can buy them over the counter at CVS and Walgreens and certain other drug stores and Medicare will pay.

I just started my Minimed today and I have CVS/Caremark through my job. Not happy to hear they don't cover this. I'm wondering though if I buy them somewhere else like Walmart or Sam's Club and submit the receipts if I'll get reimbursed. Definitely something to discuss with BCBS. Otherwise it will be back to the OneTouch Ultra2 meter for me! :(

I just learned something;
Needed strips for an extended trip i am taking and couldn't get Medicare to give me a vacation over ride past 90 days so....Happened by the local Walmart and found they have a "Relion" (basic, but does the job) meter for $16, and strips for $9/50, so I just paid for them and off we go.

A couple of tips from someone in healthcare:

1. See if you can get coverage through your medical insurance as a durable medical equipment. Prescription insurance is usually separate and may not cover it. Do not call the pharmacy number on the back of your card. Call the medical one.

2. Have your doctor do a prior authorization for the number of test strips you need. I was able to get 300 covered per month by asking them to do that.

3. If it is too soon to fill per the pharmacy, it is THEIR JOB to get an override for you to get what you need. Explain the quantity you are using and why you ran out. They can call and get a code to override the denial. Do not let them push this off on the doctor. The doctor can do nothing.

Good luck! Sometimes dealing with these people can be as frustrating as ripping your hair out strand by strand.

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Thanks, our "Pharmacy angel" has been able to get them to go through lately, but I am waiting for the day that I get another denial. Uuuuuughhhhh! Thanks for the tip on durable medical equipment - I was also told this was an option (one I haven't had to explore thankfully!) I did try the prior authorization and had no success, yet my son's Dr. said usually this is all it takes for insurance to cover prescriptions. I appreciate this discussion because I feel like we will all at one time or another go through this. My son is only 6 and I realize it is only the beginning for him:(

I have always gotten special authorization to go through, by stating this goes with my pump and this is the only thing that does. Now that they have changed to Bayer meters, its still the same routine, just a different meter

Can't believe it. I got a phone call from the pharmacy this week. They filled my 300 Contour test strips. Looks like Blue Shield has picked up Bayer Contour. May have something to do with my Medtronic pump. I don't know. Don't know for sure what happened. But I have Contour again. It only took about 3 months.

Awesome, that's good news:) Pray for it to be permanent!

Yay!!!

I was also having trouble getting the Contour Next Test Strips covered through CVS Caremark. I have been battling with the insurance since the beginning of June with Prior Authorizations and appeals. At the suggestion of others in this forum, I called Medtronic to find out if I could get them covered under the Durable Medical side of my insurance. Sure enough they were covered and shipped out yesterday. What a relief!! I was struggling with the doctors office as they were not cooperative in faxing appeals etc. and obviously fighting with the insurance company as well. Thanks to all who suggested filling through Durable Medical!!

This is really too bad. Massachusetts stopped covering Contour Next which is the meter best rated on Pub Med by an indpendent paper. Error allowed by FDA on Glucose Measurements is a whopping 20%. Think how satisfied you would be with a scale with 15% error. By contrast my recollection is Bayer is Ā±5%. If you test regularly this can cost you a fortune. I found 250 strips online for $75.00 of the Bayers but the cost can be prohibitive. I guess BC/BS wants you get get inferior care or the cost of accurate meters are just to high for them to absorb.

Hey my name is Cris McClure and I have trouble getting my insurance to cover the new contour test strips. You said that you had three of the older ones is there anyway to get/buy one from you? Iā€™m fairly desperate at this pointā€¦ I could pay you using PayPal, postal money order, cash etcā€¦ Or in anyway you see fit. My insurance covers onetouch meters and test strips so I am looking for an older one that communicates with my pump. Thank you for all your help. I appreciate all your posts and you being such an advocate for the diabetic world!! Thanks again

Cris, I hope youā€™ve solved this problem. In a pinch, Iā€™ve bought them at Amazon, where the prices are good. I checked this morning and you can buy 6 50-strip boxes for $65. Good luck! Amazon link

Yes, my insurance, TRICARE, suddenly put these strips on the Non-Formulary list, skyrocketing the price. I appealed that it was necessary to continue use of these strips due to communication with the MiniMed pump. They approved my request. Good Luck!

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Cris, I hope you have been able to fix the problem with you insuranceā€¦Here is a piece of information you may not knowā€¦If you hare using the Medtronic pumps they offer financial assistance if you qualify to help cover supplies including test strips I believeā€¦you would have to call and ask to be sure though.

I have BCBS. I get 10 boxes of Contour Next test strips and 10 vials of Humalog insulin and bcbs convers both at 100 percent. I use the Contour Next Link meter