On the animas pump, endo thinks metronic 670G would be best

i saw my endo today (1/18) and we were talking about how i am on the animas. I told him the options. He said to go with the metronics but use the 670G as that would be a good fit. according to the letter that medtronics has on their website for animas users that they get the 630G if they are still under warranty. if the warranty has expired they get the 670G. any advice on how i can get the 670G so i can have the functions that it offers that the 630G doesnt? he likes the idea of the more insulin when my levels rises, etc. so any thoughts, etc would be helpful

You mentioned your current Animas warranty is up in 2019 - but what month/day in 2019 is the warranty up?

sept of next year is when it is up

You did not mention the day of the month. Assuming it does not happen to be the 30th, then in that case, the Animas / Medtronic offer would NOT be applicable for you.
(Nothing to lose by calling Medtronic and asking but on the surface you do not appear to qualify)

https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/animas

The Animas / Medtronic offer is targeting current Animas Customers with an Animas pump warranty which expires on or AFTER September 30, 2019.

If the offer is NOT applicable (to you) then a valid choice may be to simply continue using your current Animas pump until the warranty expires in September of 2019. At that point you should be free to choose any pump that you want which is covered under your insurance plan at that time.

animas didnt give me the exact date in sept but all they told me was sept of 2019. i would assume its the 30th. right now the only number you can call is tech support. the other numbers from what ive been told doesnt work. so i may just call medtronics and see what they say

Seems the reasonable approach. Find out if you qualify then you can decide if that is the right path for you.

I thought you had to pay to get the 670 since it is not in the Animas offer???

im not sure. if your pump is out of warranty you get the 670. but mine is still in warrany so its the 630. but my dr wants me on the 670. so i gotta figure out a way to talk to medtronic about it.

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OK, I may have missed that somewhere. I have a warranty out to 2021…sigh sigh…

for the animas?

Yep. But I also have an in warranty Medtronic good to 2020. My new HMO wouldnt pay for something other than One touch strips so they decided to buy me a Ping instead…Not sure what choices I will make. I bought my Ping in 3/17. :frowning:

That is what the Medtronic offer is - swap the Animas for a 630 if your current warranty runs to September 30, 2019 or later.

If you are out of warranty and want the 670 then it really is up to your insurance plan as to whether they pay for that pump model for you. The Animas/Medtronic offer would have nothing to do with this approach.

Trying to get the 670 while you are under warranty with another pump (ie - Animas) would likely be an insurance issue. Unless you can somehow talk Medtronic into it (always possible but perhaps not probable) then you would effectively be asking your insurance plan to pay for a new pump before you had completed four years on your current pump.

Why not just stay on the Animas until September of 2019 then have your insurance plan get whatever pump you and your Doc decide is the most appropriate for you?

I’m with Tim35 on that. And during the ensuing 2 years, there may be many changes in the marketplace, possibly with better options. That’s what I am doing even though I am on Medicare and could qualify for a new pump now.

Are you currently using Dexcom CGMS? if not, are you interested in starting medtronic CGMS. Will your insurance cover it? Both 630 and 670 have features where CGMS makes decisions to change insulin delivery. Both slow down or stop delivery when CGMS says you are low, which I think is more important than increasing when high.

There have been many postings about 670 and using the auto mode. Some have returned pump, or turned off the auto functions. It may be a good fit for you, but make sure you know what you are getting, not just because your doctor prefers it.

@MM1
That is a great point. I believe @Amy2 has posted previously regarding her Dexcom as well as a note regarding Medicare coverage (although I may be recalling incorrectly and confusing different posters - apologies in advance).

AFAIK, Medicare does not currently cover the Medtronic cgm sensors.

Although another company has claimed that Medicare covers their newly FDA approved product, the only cgm system which I have heard people actually stating they have received through Medicare is the Dexcom G5 system.

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Others have already pointed this out, but it’s important. This is not your endo’s pump. He doesn’t need to use it, but you do.

You need to make a choice that you are happy with. Call all the companies - Tandem, Medtronic, and Insulet and ask to met with a rep to see their pump options. Look at pumps from all 3 companies. You do not need an endo’s permission to do this. Just call each company and request a meeting and look at them all.

Please do that!

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my dr wants me to be on the 670 instead of the animas now because of how my sugar levels are. the animas is now proving that it isnt effective no matter what settings it has. he thinks ill benefit from the medtronic 670 on the features it has.

My suspicion is funding the 670g (at this point in time based on your existing Animas warranty - ie, prior to Sept 2019) may not be so easy.

im sure it wont be easy. but if they should work hard, etc to help me get it. i had animas work hard to get me the pump as the ins i had at the time was fussy about the pumps and the cgm

I can say from my own experience and participating on a couple of 670G-dedicated groups, it seems like the people who get the most out auto-mode are the ones who have had A1c’s in the 7+ range and are now getting down into the 6s with this pump. Seems to do well at that. As someone who routinely ran 6.0 before the 670G, I found I was having to work a lot harder for results that were not as good as I was doing with my old pump. People who struggle with frequent hypos also like it a lot.