I know this is a frequent topic but…I am so frustrated with CCS Medical for my pump and cgm supplies. It is next to impossible to speak to a human. I have been on hold now for 23 minutes and climbing. I can’t find a way to order a transmitter online and they did not send one for my update, which will be in 2 weeks.
I used to use Edgepark. Does anyone use that now and what are your experiences with it?
Oh, CCS also drives me nuts with emails to reorder after I have just ordered. It’s weekly emails I don’t need. Yuck. Thanks. And I have a limited no. of places I can order from. Now just Edgepark and CCS I think.
I have been using CCS for my Tandem and Dexcom supplies for the last 7 years. No problems. I established an online account and do my ordering that way. Seldom do I have to speak to Customer Service. Yes, their multiple reminder emails are a pain but they started only recently. Hope people complain just as I have about them and they discontinue sending so many soon.
Edgepark is going for their third attempt to murder me by taking going on a month to send me pen needles. I ordered 90 days after they dispensed them last time.
Do you have private insurance, medicaid, medicare or medicare advantage? I’ve got some tricks to help you find another supplier of you let me know which one.
Just a reminder that Dexcom G6 transmitters will run for a minimum of 100 days from when you started them. They don’t just quit on day 90 as Dexcom would have you believe. Depending on when you start your last session, you may even get up to 110 days. That may buy you a little extra time to sort the mess out. I believe you’re on a Tandem pump, too, correct? Seems like the T:slim was always spitting out random Transmitter expiration alert that had absolutely nothing to do with the date the transmitter would actually expire on. Nearly 8 years with T:slim and I never did figure out their random Transmitter alerts. So again, you might have more time than you think.
In my experience, CCS works best when you don’t have to interact with the people. I’ve had major incompetence and insurance fraud issues when trying to order supplies for the first time (initial switch and when I ordered a new pump a few years later), but supply reorders have always been completely painless. They harass me with text messages until I login and authorize the order, and they ship on time, insurance pays right away, too (unlike Byram that always said I owed several thousand $, waiting on insurance).Once I thought the same thing as you, that I was due a transmitter, and turned out that a different person made a mistake when they added it to the supply order and I wasn’t actually due one yet. I didn’t really get shorted a transmitter. (More of the aforementioned trying to order a new pump saga.)
I do wish CCS had an online catalog, like Byram does,making it easier to switch supplies or add on occasional things, like glucose meters. But that wouldn’t really help you for your current issue. Nothing to do but wait for customer service.
I’m curious as to how long you eventually had to wait on hold. It’s probably sad to admit this, but 23 minutes doesn’t seem unreasonable anymore to me for any of the people we have to deal with (manufacturers, suppliers, insurance, etc…) I’ve learned to just put them on speaker phone and go about the rest of my day until someone answers.
HI Robyn,
The total time I waited was over an hour before hanging up. It was at 23 minutes when
I posted but I kept holding.
I sent a second email and said I was looking for another medical supply place.
That got their attention and I got both an email back and a call from CCS. (a first
for both of those)
They took care of the issue and I asked why they didn’t answer their phone or
why they never called back when I left my # for a callback. I got no answer.
Except for the transmitters, I have way too many pump and cgm supplies. They
bug me and want to send stuff way too soon. It may be because I don’t know
whether to be honest and say I change my pump sets every 4 days instead of
every 3. Since I stopped eating meat, most of the time, I use less insulin.
Until recently, when I stopped reusing them, my cgm sensors would last 20 days
because I re-inserted at day 10. I have so many i just change them q 10 days
now!
I have not tried going to 110 days but I have had it stop barely into using a new
sensor so I like to change it before starting a new sensor if it is close to time.
I looked at Byrum because I read that it is one of the good ones but don’t know
if it is on my insurance list. Edgepark is still bad, apparently, based on
online comments. My experience is that most online companies don’t seem
interested in keeping you satisfied with their service.
Thank you!
To be fair, most DME companies are bad, insurance makes them worse and sometimes doctors offices don’t help. I read @Robyn_H’s post as CCS is bad but in a way she is willing to deal with. I’m willing to deal with Edgepark’s evil but only for pen needles, CGMs I get from a company that is bad in different ways.
To be fair, on my part, after I screamed in an email, ccs did respond, finally, and included a phone number I had not had before. So I have 3 ph #s now, but we’ll see if the new one works.
If they want to be in business, they need to at least try to be responsive to their customers when they contact them.
And yes, I know dr offices and the hlth insurance industry are part of what they must deal with. I have to deal with a lot of awful stuff in my volunteer program but I try to ‘go with the flow’ and keep on. Ha!!
I’m glad you folks have found what works for you.
@spdif Chris, I have Medicare and federal Blue Cross as my secondary insurance.
When I calle BCBS, the person gave me a list of medial supply places that only sell to organizations. ha ha! They didn’t sell to an individual. But I know that for my T1D supplies, there is a limited number of “in” companies.
Thanks for reading and responding…to all.
That must be good coverage and less than no fun when you have to figure things out. If you happen to also have a Medicare supplement then Part B will pay 80%, BCBS can pay 0% and the supplement can pay its part of the remainder. Just about all DME companies can bill Part B.
If you have to stick with the BCBS list of in network providers there should be a website with a provider search. In my experience you need to provide a zipcode and a company name to check if the provider is in network. Here’s a list I’ve put together from people here, Dexcom and Abbott.
| Name | Website | Zip |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Diabetes Supply (Cardinal Health) | https://www.northcoastmed.com/ | 92009 |
| Bedard Pharmacy and Medical Supplies | https://www.mybedard.com/ | |
| Better Living Now Inc. (Rotech) | https://www.betterlivingnow.com/ | 11788 |
| Bridgewater Health Supplies | https://bridgewaterhealthsupplies.com/ | 11771 |
| Byram | https://www.byramhealthcare.com/ | 10605 |
| CCSMed | https://ccsmed.com/ | 75234 |
| Diabetes Supply Center of the Midlands (Adapthealth) | https://diabetes-supply.com/ | 68134 |
| Edgepark (Cardinal Health) | https://www.edgepark.com/ | 44087 |
| Edwards | https://myehcs.com/ | 44236 |
| Healthy Living Medical Supplies | https://www.myhlms.com/ | 48216 |
| Heart Medical Equipment | https://hartmedical.org/ | 48439 |
| J&B Medical Supply | https://www.jandbmedical.com/ | 48393 |
| Medcare | https://medcareequipment.com/ | 15601 |
| Minipharmacy | https://minipharmacy.com/ | 90021 |
| Pinnacle Medical Solutions (Adapthealth) | https://www.pinnaclemedicalsolutions.com/ | 90074, 38125, 35630, 38672 |
| Quest Health Solutions | https://www.questhealthsolutions.com/ | 33067 |
| Solara (Adapthealth) | https://www.solara.com/ | 91913 |
| Total Medical Supply | https://www.tmscares.com/ | 75503 |
| United States Medical Supply (Cardinal Health) | https://www.usmed.com/ | 33122 |
| Wellstart Medical | https://wellstartmedical.com/ | 34952 |
Careful, this list includes companies that are worse than Edgepark and not all do pump supplies.
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