I agree with Caprifoglio's (nice to run into you again, BTW!) suggestion to organize. To me, the biggest problem with diabetes is that the standards of care (e.g. "you need to test 4x/ day" [Medicare, my insurer used to send a yearly letter reminding me that was all the test strips I needed...] to "you need to test 7x/ day". I need to test WHEN I NEED TO TEST!!!) are so low they are designed to set us up to fail by making it hard to control the disease. Since the patient is "in charge" if you don't control it, some doctors will be sympathetic and supportive but some will shrug and blame you for screwing up their plan.
My idea is to advocate that BG testing for all types of diabetes is a civil right. Diabetes is a disease uniquely supported by technology and we should have easier access to it. I am spoiled and in a decent place, haven't been out of pocket for strips or anything for a while as I've settled into a rhythm with the procurement process. I guess I've settled into a rhythm with the diabetes in general and things are going ok for me. At the same time I am perhaps more aggressive with BG than many folks. I try to "win" and, to myself, I think I succeed at it pretty well. I am by no means perfect but my BG is usually pretty decent and, if it's not, I'm figuring out a way to get it back. I am aiming at balance rather than "up" or "down".
I have run into Dr. Stephen Ponder first personally and then with a group "The Power Within" on FB, he is a Pediatric Endo who's T1(He also has a bearded lizard named Rango I am also friends with...LOL) who has a great way of showing his own CGM lines and discussing his tactical approaches I haven't seen at a lot of places. I do well but he recently explained his calculation to follow up a rising BG after Mexican food tht had a really great result, basically rebolusing 1/2 the meal dose. It was probably better than my approach of guess how many carbs I forgot to bolus for, bolus again and, often, run low afterwards...oh well, I don't need to gain 2 lbs eating tacos anyway. The general spirit of the conversations we've had there (ok, a lot of times, it's him and me, maybe it can grow though?) reminds me of the Flatliner's Club here before it got as moribund as it has been lately.
I think the place to approach the problem is with the AMA who establish the low standards. Many doctors recognize that people with diabetes can do much better with more testing, including CGMs, which allow more sophisticated approaches to insulin management. I think that staying on top of your BG is equally important for T2 which, in many ways, is a more challenging disease. I will certainly watch for initiatives along these lines.
Then again, maybe the way to approach it is through a class-action suit. If we read all of the emails between insurers, medicare and doctors, particularly any doctor whose level of corruption compels him to sign a "4x/ day" letter, I'm sure we might be able to find some corruption that would give us some leverage. I guess the problem with that would be that if we lost, we'd LOSE what little leverage we have?