Walmart has the cheapest over the counter strips. They are much cheaper than what I pay through insurance.
Sorry but I think you are mistaken that they wonât cover some strips once the Medicare G6 packages are available.
I totally agree and believe it is an assumption SherryAnn is making rather than fact.
I sincerely hope you are correct. I would LOVE for them to do so; just be aware that there is a possibility that they will not do so. If they will not cover strips for me now since I am on the G6 and on Medicare, what makes you think that they will cover strips for me later?
Yes, this is an assumption. That is why I originally said Medicare PROBABLY wonât cover them. I really hope that Dexcom will send strips with the G6 and that Medicare will pay for the âwhole package.â However, I also need to be prepared to not have Medicare follow through with payment. I was just trying to let people know what I am experiencing right now.
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SherryAnn the lack of strips coverage for you is because you arenât in âthe programâ of Medicare coverage for a G6, along with itâs additional supplies. Iâd bet $50 that Iâm correct that when the time comes for the Medicare shipments to begin, they will include some stripsâmaybe not 150 as is the case now, but bear in mind that I got my allotment increased to 300 per month simply by having my endo fax an Rx directly to a particular fax number at Dexcom. My next months order included the 300 and has ever since. Do not fearâyouâll get what is âmedically necessaryâ as defined by your doctor.
Not so sure about that medically necessary part. Insurance and Medicare define what they think is necessary sometimes. And itâs possible (and I donât have a clue here) that they have decided they will pay for a G6 or they will pay for a G5 and strips.
I have good insurance, Humalog wasnât covered, but my doctor said I had to have it so they covered it. Libre no matter what was not covered, although G6 was. Medicare keeps costs down by bargaining and deciding they will only cover certain meds etc.
So my point is until it happens, itâs possible that with all the fanfare of the G6 doesnât need to be calibrated that medicare has decided it too. I keep hearing that from my docs, but you donât need to calibrate the G6. And I have to say thatâs not true. The endo here even said when I was talking to her about it, that she wondered why her patients still wanted test strips.
So they might have really promoted or pushed it as no testing necessary for Medicare to okay it.
My insurance wont let anyone using the Libre have test strips. Nonsense.
This partly why it never should have been fda cleared for treatment. That and that is is frequently very very off. Just today dex had me at 44, bg was 77. I will never treat off dex unless I have close corroborating fs.
Maybe if you have your doc write a medical necessity letter that you still need to test?
Dave44, you have more faith in the Medicare system than do I. I wonât take your bet because if you are correct, then I will be happy with whatever strips they choose to send. If I am correct, then I will need that $50 to pay for the strips out of my own pocket. As it stands now, I will run out of Freestyle strips before Dexcom is set to release the G6 to Medicare coverage, so I will need to buy more strips either way. In actuality, the Contour Next One strips are less expensive than the FreeStyle Regular strips, so that is probably the path I will take.
I agree. This is a sad. I hope that this does not become a âtrendâ with insurance companies. Even with a CGM, we all need strips!
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Dexcom is a valuable tool to show trends â am I going high or low â and to show overall patterns that warrant my attention. I use both parts of my G6 to help me determine appropriate exercise and to change basal or I/C ratios on my pump. However, like you, my Dexcom readings and my pump readings are far enough apart that I would never use it as a sole means of treatment. The algorithm of my FreeStyle/ OmniPod system is different than the algorithm used to run the Dexcom (and, to my surprise) the Contour Next One system. As long as I have the original OmniPod, I need to stay with the FreeStyle strips. I hope that by the time they totally run out, I will be able to change to the OmniPod Dash system which uses the same algorithm as the Contour Next One and the Dexcom G6. Once again, though, I cannot afford the Dash out of pocket, so I must await its approval through Medicare Part D pharmacy program.
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Sorry guys! I use the Dexcom to treat and adjust my doses, I did the Libre too, (I just added the right âoffâ amount for the libre to the number shown after I found the original variance) I was quite ready to not finger stick if possible. I finger stick the first day a couple of times to calibrate and Iâm good to go. I just check it every couple of days sometimes longer sometimes shorter to make sure that it is off by 5 hopefully, but Iâll recalibrate if it is more and retest later to make sure itâs good to go. I like it fairly accurate at 150 and below, I donât really care as much if itâs off by more as the numbers go higher.
But I know some people have had a lot more problems than I have using it. I do believe you need the ability to calibrate which require testing and need to be able to test whenever you feel you need too.
So I think itâs ridiculous the âno calibration or no finger sticking neededâ thing. I think itâs ridiculous that Dexcom thinks that 30 points off is okay because it fits a percentage and I have a feeling this is all part of the no calibration no finger sticking needed thing because it has a wide range itâs supposed to be okay in.
And then does that mean how itâs marketed to the insurance companies as at least you wonât have to pay for strips. This also means a more scary thing that they will try to stop the ability to calibrate like the Libre, because well, supposedly you donât need to and itâs cheaper to make. But that will make it no different than the Libre and the Libre is cheaper.
SherryAnn: You have been such a good sport in this debate that I will make you an even better offer as I, like Dave44 also firmly believe that Medicare will include strips and/or make them available to Medicare G6 Dexcom recipients once Dexcom is ready to ship out the G6 Monthly supplies. This is like a coin toss where heads you win and tails I lose. Just PM me your address and I will send you 3 boxes (150) Contour next One test strips to get you started and tie you over. If I lose the bet, you keep the strips. If I win the bet you also keep the strips as I donât collect on my bets.
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lol, SherryAnn has been a nice sport!!!
Maybe try relion strips too, they are pretty good.
SherryAnn, did you stop using Omnipod? I get my Freestyle strips for ânot a pump according to Medicareâ Omnipod through part B. I havenât added a CGM yet. If I do, would I have to get the strips through Dexcom for the CGM vs for the pump? Itâs either or and canât get both? Am I missing something??? I would expect my current 6xday Rx to drop if I had CGM.
If you go onto Dexcom G5 for now under medicare you get a monthly supply of Sensors, Test Strips and Lancets as needed. Dexcom Medicare ships mostly directly from Dexcom, however, in some sections of the US Dexcom uses 3rd party providers due to some legal restrictions they have from supplying direct. The end result, however, is the same.
Thank you for your kind offer, but I think I am good for now. I have a âstashâ of FreeStyle strips I can use for a bit, and then I can change full-time to the Contour. I actually found a sale on the Contour strips at Walgreens, so I stocked up on those, too. The FreeStyle strips cost about $2.00 each, and the Contour I can get for $1.45. In the sale I found, I got the Contour strips for 50 cents each, so I bought as many boxes as I could. I really am appreciative of your sweet offer, however. That is what I like about this community. We can talk to each other because we know everyone else will understand our joys, sorrows, triumphs, and failures. We support one another, encourage one another, educate one another, and help one another. We can have respectful disagreements and still go on with life. I wish the whole world could have similar experiences with one another. Everyone would win in the end.
Also check out Amazon at around $.32 per strip delivered.
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