Maria - The G4 CGM system requires a battery powered Bluetooth transmitter than last +/- 6 months (about $900 ea) plus sensors that expire after 1 week ($85/ea). As it turns out, the sensors can actually be re-set and last up to 3 weeks each, so those costs are halved or cut by 1/3
2 x Bluetooth transmitters = $1,800/yr, plus
52 x sensors @ $85/ea = $4,400/yr, or by resetting 20 x $85/ea = $1,700/yr
Definitely worth checking into. Donât be afraid of the pump. With the CGM my life has never been better
One time, the nurse at my endo office left me a voicemail concerning my request for prior authorization to get 10 strips/day - she said, and I quote: âyou know, even full-blown diabetics donât test that much!â Uhhh did she miss the memo that I am indeed a âfull-blown diabetic?â Also, how do you know we donât test that much?! I didnât even know how to respond to that, haha.
Btw, I ask for 10/day, and then I order more on Amazon. Whatever makes you feel confident about where your blood sugar is trending is how many strips you need a day. Itâs different for everyone.
Healthcare is a provincial responsibility (like education), and so the coverage varies widely from province to province.
Iâm not sure what the rationale was to only cover pumps to age 25/26 here in BC other than people didnât think ahead. I think most of the advocacy effort was driven by parents of kids with Type 1, and at the time maybe they were like, âWell, some pump coverage is better than none, at least itâs a startâŚâ. Also, Canada does have private insurance, which many people have through work, and so I suppose they might have figured that many adults would get pumps via that route. But my insurance through work currently only covers one pump per lifetime, so itâs not much betterâŚ
I think that every country has their flaws with healthcare. I personaly like ours because I hear so many stories of people in the US literally dying or going bankrupt because they canât afford medical expenses. We have some expenses, but at least doctor visits, diagnostic tests, hospital stays, and most basic drugs are covered. I canât imagine basing a decision to go to emergency on whether or not I could afford it instead of whether or not I thought I was experiencing a medical emergency.
