I wouldn’t be worried about the refurb either. It still has the 5 year warranty. The whole issue with renting is strange. The pump is yours after the 13th month, which makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. You’re locked into a pump with Medicare for five years, after the first 30 days. You don’t have to return the pump after 5 years. The word rent really doesn’t apply to this Medicare rule, more like pay it off in installments. Medicare does not allow patients to take advantage of the pump upgrade programs, this excludes Tandem’s software updates.
@Dave44 What are you going to do? Being locked into a 5 year contract with a pump you’re not even sure about is a lousy situation to be in.
What would you expect them to do? They have to follow Medicare’s guidelines exactly or they don’t get paid for the pump. I would expect that the paperwork for Medicare pumps is far more heavily scrutinized than any other insurance organization.
It was a rhetorical question coming from a dismayed frame of mind. We all know that nothing will come from this. You’re right, all of these companies that have Medicare contracts should know the guidelines backwards and forwards. They should be honest with their customers, there should be severe ramifications when they are not being truthful. Unfortunately, Medicare has the gold, they make the rules. Sucky situation all around.
Yup, frustratingly Stoopid. I didn’t quote your post as an attack. I thought you made a great point and I wanted to add to it. Sorry if it came across negatively. I like @Dave44, he and I don’t agree on some things but he’s never been a jerk to me. He was excited about his pump and having a 12 month grace period to try it out. I hate that this happened not only to him but countless others we’ll never hear from. We can’t fight city hall, but we sure as hell can b@tch about them.
However, when you get a pump under Medicare, the first year is considered a lease and after that it belongs to me for the next 4 years. Pumps purchased under Medicare are only replaced every 5 years unlike 4 years for most private insurance. But the lease year is more flexible than private insurance and I know people who have been able to change pumps several months into the “lease.”
@dave44 Sorry it may not work out in your case.
Maybe each supplier makes the rules of lease.
I might be behind on this stuff. I thought that medicare didn’t do Medtronic sensors. There were FDA concerns last I heard. Maybe that doesn’t apply to the 670g? Maybe that has a different sensor?
I have never even heard of a refurbished insulin pump. That’s peculiar.
That is still correct. But many use medtronic pump with dexcom cgms, without integration.
Medtronic needs to file with FDA, FDA is not holdup.
Edit to add: 670 G3 is FDA approved, but medicare does not cover G3 sensors because there is additional FDA approval for Guardian 3 sensors to not require BG testing. (There is a new post saying Medtronic has filed with FDA)
FDA preventing filing. The sensors were declared inadequate in reaching minimum standards. But, stuff must have changed if medicare is allow 670g, right? Or, is that a totally different sensor type? Or, is it like the cell phone thing where Medicare just relented and gave the go ahead despite a lack of FDA filing? They have been doing that, too.
Ahhh, that makes sense. That seems correct because I think they are doing FDA trials for new sensor tech. I think they have some in trial that are supposed to be more like G6, even.
Oh, you know the thing where FDA was super mad about people on Medicare using cell phone apps to monitor BG? They made the argument that cell phones were not formal medical devices that could not possibly be sent through FDA and if they caught people using the cell phone app they would withhold funding. That was a thing about a year or so ago. But, then they changed their policy and said people on Medicare could use the app because people complained that their family members didn’t have access to share functionality and it posed a risk to their physical safety. It was pretty interesting because there was a standoff between arguments surrounding physical safety VS application/computer security. Physical safety won.
I can’t figure out why Medicare is paying for the 670 but doesn’t cover the sensors. Why pay for a more expensive pump when most of the patients don’t have access to the sensors. The 630 would be a better alternative financially, most Medicare patients are using Dexcom with their Medtronic pumps.
I remember that fiasco. Another rule put on Medicare patients and nobody else. They also didn’t allow the Dex to be paired with an insulin pump. Dexcom fought them hard on those rules. I’m glad they stood up for their patients.
Yes. For starters I’m already used to wearing a receiver along with a pump so not having integration between a CGM and a pump isn’t a show-stopper for me. ALso, I don’t trust ANY sensor to be accurate 100% of the time. I don’t want a false low to shut off my insulin in the middle of the night, for example. Even my trusty G5 COULD read falsely low if it were pressed on too long and hard, which I try to avoid by my usual sleep positions.
Second of all, I have issues with certain aspects of the Tandem pumps which I’ll not repeat here for the umpteeth time.
