Does medicare require you to give Dexcom a verbal or written declaration of how many supplies you have on hand, before Dexcom will ship monthly supplies? Medicare does that very thing to MM pump users. The current rules state that you have to say that you have less than “x” number of days left of supplies, which is an even fewer days than it was last year. I can’t remember if it’s 1 week or 10 days but it’s somewhere in that range. Is it the same with Dexcom supplies?
I’m on Medicare and get my insulin pump supplies from Medtronic. The last time I ordered they asked me how many days of supplies I had on hand. I told them 14 days supplies. They told me to call back when I had 10 days or fewer supplies. I was irritated by this since they would not book my order and simply internally delay it by four days to comply with their rules. I was forced to re-enter a reminder on my calendar and go through their phone maze again. They told me that this was a Medicare rule and they had no choice. Now I know to answer that question with a number of 10 days or fewer.
I don’t get my Dexcom supplies through Medicare but I expect that Dexcom would need to comply with the same rules as Medtronic.
Dexcom still doesn’t have a clue in how to deal with Medicare on re-order supplies thus making them in my personal opinion the Worst Medical Device company that we have ever dealt with! We never had these kind of order problems with Insulet/Omnipod! Last week, my wife called Dexcom to re-order sensors because after receiving the initial package from Dexcom in late August, they only provide 4 sensors in the initial package paid by Medicare. My wife is on her third sensor, and wanted to order more sensors from Dexcom to be on the safe side just in case one might fail. After all, these sensors are electronic devices, and electronics can fail at times. The Dexcom CSR said that out of courtesy they would send out two complimentary sensors, but first my wife would have to call Medicare if she wanted to order any more supplies?
So today, I called CMS, and explained the situation to them. CMS then informed me to notify Dexcom that they are the supplier, and Dexcom should be the point-of-contact with CMS regarding re-ordering supplies, and NOT the customer/patient. I realize there is a learning curve going on here between Dexcom & CMS, but they have been distributing these devices to Medicare patients for two months now, and can’t seem to get their act together. I wonder how many more Medicare patients are in the same boat that we’re in regarding dealing with Dexcom, and their irritating order process? Why does someone have to jump through so many hoops just to place an order? First we went through this just obtaining the device, and second now re-ordering supplies. There seems to be a total disconnect here!
Here is what we were told: Dexcom will send us an email when it’s time to reorder the monthly supplies. I asked them specifically about how we’ll be contacted, and numerous Dexcom employees said the contact is done by email. We will see! I hope they get the monthly supplies handled in a timely fashion. It’s not like this stuff is frivolous When it gets to be around 22 days from my initial order, I’ll be bugging them if I haven’t received an email (or a call). After all, they have to process the order, ship the order, and it takes time to receive it. I don’t want to receive it PAST the 30-day mark…
Well Dave, my wife was well beyond the 30-day mark, and she received no such email/call notification from Dexcom? So what can I say about Dexcom that I haven’t already expressed of my displeasure of their operations. Dexcom still has a lot to learn here in dealing with CMS. I feel their problem is that they are more worried about receiving reimbursements from CMS and secondary insurance than they are in taking care of their new Medicare customer/patients. I think that was their main reason for them to outsource this task to suppliers like Liberty Medical who was so overwhelmed they threw in the towel, and abandoned ship after dealing with CMS! I’m not sure if you are aware, but CMS is rather slow at paying their claims in a timely manner, thus the reason why many doctors don’t like accepting patients on Medicare. Maybe Trump Care will help us???
I have NEVER had any issue with any supplier, doctor, or facility, accepting Medicare.
Bummer to hear that Dexcom didn’t reach out for the monthly order in a timely fashion. That’s why I have a calendar reminder set to call them prior to the 30 days.
I am still using supplies hoarded before Medicare but will start my Medicare order with Dexcom long before it is needed. I use my sensors for 2-3 weeks and will always make sure that I have a cushion as I deal with Medicare. How many days supplies do you have left? Tell me what you want me to say and I’ll say it.
I am not selling excess diabetes supplies. I don’t throw away excess supplies. I use them all and I refuse to get in a situation where my health and sanity is in jeopardy because Medicare and DME suppliers don’t understand that my life depends on this stuff and my supplies are not a luxury.
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I believe @Terry4 has already determined the rule is “10 days or less”.
I use them all and I refuse to get in a situation where my health and sanity is in jeopardy because Medicare and DME suppliers don’t understand that my life depends on this stuff and my supplies are not a luxury.
Well said Laddie, I agree with you 1000%!
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Note: This was my first month as a Medicare-covered Dexcom G5 user. This morning, October 1, I received an automated message from Dexcom asking how many unopened G5 sensors I had, how many unopened 50-strip containers, and how many unopened 100-lancet boxes I had.
I answered those questions, electronically signed them, and submitted them. Based on my answers, they will send me 1 sensor and one 50-strip container of test strips, and no lancets for the coming month. Note: I had extra G4/G5 sensors from my non-Medicare G4 90-day supply era … which is the reason that I only need one more for the coming month. (And I’m one of those folks who rarely changes lancets).
Note: It also has a qualifier about not using smart devices … which, for me, is no problems to sign because as a G4 user, I’ve never been used to using my phone for reading CGM data … so I can honestly say that I don’t intend to use my phone for CGM data.
Jimbo31, I don’t know why your wife didn’t receive this type of email from Dexcom … they must not have gotten it set up properly … but, for me, the automated process seems to work. And, yes, they are asking about supplies on hand before determining what to send out in compliance with Medicare rules.
Happy October, everyone!
John
John, was it a SMS message or email?
Dave.
It was a real email sent from no-reply@dexcom-email.com.
You may want to check your spam folder on case an address like no-reply triggered some undesirable filtering.
Good luck,
John
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"Jimbo31, I don’t know why your wife didn’t receive this type of email from Dexcom … they must not have gotten it set up properly … "
@John_S2, You must be right, because Dexcom must not have her email address set up? Although, the Dexcom Sales Manager has it, the Dexcom Sales Rep has it, and the female Dexcom Ordering Service Rep who processed the order in August has it. So that’s amazing their so called automated system doesn’t have it? As far as I know, our telephone works because they called my wife a couple of weeks after she received the G5 to ask how it was working out for her. But yet they don’t know how to get in touch with us on re-orders, instead telling my wife that she had to call CMS. Strange?
@John_S2 - If you log in to the Dexcom Store:
https://store.dexcom.com/user/login
Do you have access to any of what you speak or see any relevant options or in general anything that might be useful to somebody who might not have the mentioned email (for whatever reason)?
Tim:
Here is a cut-and-paste of the email message itself. Hopefully you can at least see the information they are asking about.
Good luck, John
To view this email as a web page, go here.http://view.dexcom-email.com
[Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System]http://click.dexcom-email.com
Dear John
In order to successfully receive Medicare reimbursement for the Dexcom G5 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System, we are required to reach out to you on a monthly basis to verify your information. Please verify your product usage and refill needs in the link below in order to fulfill your next Medicare supplies order.
Verify Your Informationhttp://click.dexcom-email.com
If you do not verify your supply needs and information, you will not receive your next Medicare supplies shipment. Should you have any immediate questions about the Dexcom G5 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System, please call 1-888-738-3646tel:1-888-738-3646.
Please Note: The beneficiary may NOT use their phone or smart device for display of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) data and still be eligible for reimbursement by Medicare for Therapeutic CGM.
Thank you,
Dexcom Team
Tim, you can’t access the Dexcom store if you are a Medicare patient. Crazy, huh? I wanted to check it out to see when they were getting some optional dressings that they said are coming soon, but no way for me to access their store.
Tim:
I realized that my cut and paste didn’t show the actual questions. I only have a phone with me, but will try again from home when I can grab a screen capture …
More later, John
@Dave44 - Yeah, that stinks. It would have been a way to check for a missed communication.
@John_S2 - You certainly provided a good amount of the information.
I don’t see any personal info on john’s links.