United Health Care (UHC) and Pumps

Diabetes Advocacy
#1

Update: My HR requested a company-wide Exception and we have been Approved!!!

Currently, UHC only will cover Medtronic Pumps and refuses to offer the same coverage for all other pump brands.

UHC doesn’t even tell you that this is an option but they do give exceptions to entire plans. A helpful co-worker learned this when she spoke to Tandem.

So, for those of you out there dealing with this speak to your HR and ask them to ask UHC for a company-wide exception.

UHC is not being ethical in this rule they have imposed. The more patients and companies that speak out the greater possibility that they roll-back this rule. It’s not right.

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#2

AWESOME!!!
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am to hear that! :grinning::+1:

EDIT: I was unsuccessful with HR, maybe because my plan was self-funded. But since yours was fully insured, that’s good to know that is a possible avenue that can be used. Just another weapon in the anti-UHC arsenal that can be built here on this wonderful forum!

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#3

Thanks for your help @Eric2 regardless.

Our company is small too, only about 300 employees. So, those who think they have to work for a large company to be heard think again.

I want as many people to stand up and let UHC know that this is not ethical and only financially based.

#4

Do you have any specifics on what your HR said to UHC? I’d like to add that to the list of things to try, specifically for fully insured cases!

I just looked through the emojis, and couldn’t find a “dagger in the heart of UHC” emoji, so this will have to do:

:dagger: :hearts: UHC

#5

There was a meeting this week between UHC, our head of HR, and our health care broker. I’m not exactly sure who our broker is, but they represent many companies in general.

  1. UHC is not our current provider but will be beginning Jan 1, 2017. However, the plan is already in place and everyone has received their cards for 2017, etc.

  2. We have at least 2 pump employees in the company. I use the Omnipod and my coworker’s daughter uses the t:slim. And neither of us are fans of Medtronic in general.

  3. So, from what I have heard our argument was that it is unfair to force patients to use one brand of pump. Our coverage essentially went from 100% to 0% because of UHC. We argued that tubed and non-tubed pumps cannot be compared. My A1c is significantly lower since switching from t:slim to the Omnipod. It has 24-hour basal always, no disconnecting ever.

  4. And the last argument was that upon our plan renewal my company would mostly like not go with UHC if they don’t offer this exemption.

I am thankful for our HR, but in reality they would have never known anything was wrong had me and my coworker not voiced our opinions.

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#6

Way to go, Anthony!!! You showed 'em!

We need to take to the streets and protest how health insurers have negatively impacted the caliber of health care people receive in the U.S. This crap has got to stop…

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