I’m on a Dexcom G6 and I love it. But I hate (hate, HATE) my 3rd-party supplier, Solara Medical (“an Adapthealth Company”). When I got started with Dexcom about 15 months ago, they were the supplier that Dexcom paired me with. But their customer service and communication methods are ATROCIOUS and after a 75-minute onhold wait this afternoon just to learn that they have lost (or somehow never received) the documentation I need to get my next shipment, that my doctor faxed over 2 weeks ago, I’m done with them. (This is not the first straw, but it was the last. There was a lot of frustrated ragescreaming and uglycrying for a few minutes… not all of it before I hung up with them.)
How do I find out what my other options might be for a supplier? Would I need to contact Dexcom for that? My insurance? Both? (Note that I get my insurance through my employer.) Any advice or tips would be welcome, thanks!
You may want to contact Byram Healthcare or CCS Medical. I have been with CCS Medical for a few years now for my Dexcom G5/G6, and now G7 supplies and their service has been outstanding. I have heard good things about Byram and there are others as well such as Edgepark. You can use the search bar above and will see all sorts of recommendations for the best Dexcom suppliers.
Thanks, but I guess my question was meant to be more like, how would I go about finding if I CAN switch suppliers? I’m not sure if that’s an option, so would I need to ask Dexcom, my insurance, or both?
I have Solara for my Dexcom supplies, in my opinion they are useless. CCS Med does my pump supplies and are very good. I will have my doctor’s office to drop Solara and send my prescription for Dexcom to CCS Medical.
Check with your insurance company as to which DME companies they work with, Then your doctor can send the prescription and your chart to the new company.
I have ADS. It was Dexcom who suggested them and they took care of everything. I get a text confirming my 3 month supply is needed and it gets sent. I have a feeling if you contact them, they might handle everything although you might need a new script requested.
I just want to underline what Luis said. Dexcom would be happy for you to buy their product from any distributor, but your insurance company will most likely have negotiated a price with a supplier and they will only give full coverage if you buy from that supplier. If you go elsewhere, you’ll pay more.
Contact your insurance company. If you do not NEED the supplies delivered, you might also ask if you can pick the supplies up via a pharmacy program. If so, get your doctor to send a new prescription to the pharmacy that you choose. I currently go to a Walgreens Community Pharmacy and pick up my supplies each month (since I am on Medicare) right in my local community. No shipping. No hassles.
I don’t know about other people’s insurance, but mine doesn’t lines to talk to people. You wake on hold for hours just to get a rude person who blows you off because they want to deal with doctors not patients.
What I’ve done is call the MANUFACTURER, in this case Dexcom, and ask them to run a benefits check. Their computer system will tell you exactly which ones your insurance company works with and they can give you contact info, too.
I’ve heard that Dexcom pretty much always recommends Solara if they’re on the list because the CEOs are friends. Don’t know how true that is, but it’s a polar rumor. You can still ask for who else is on the list, though.
I am wondering when CJ114 last interacted with CCS Medical. I too have been using CCS Medical for my Tandem pump supplies for years with great service and no issues. Like you, I had all of these same issues with my Dexcom supplies with Solara and for that reason, have spent the past few months trying to switch my Dexcom supplies over to CCS. What a horrible few months it’s been. Something has definitely changed at CCS since I’d last dealt with them. 16 hour wait times, rude and lying representatives, and departments that can’t communicate with each other to relay accurate information to the customer, and requiring another 16-hour hold time to speak with the department they decide to transfer you to. Once everything was finally complete with my order, they charged my co-pay to my FSA account THREE TIMES. Still trying to get ahold of them to get that rectified and in the meantime, I’m unable to use my FSA account for insulin, etc because all of my money was drained.
I think, unfortunately, you’ll be dealing with a lot of the same issues with any of the suppliers. I myself have not had any experience with Byram, so maybe you want to try that. But to answer your actual question, contact Dexcom customer service (not tech support) and ask them to let you know where else you can receive your supplies from. You can also get a list of contracted “DME” suppliers from your insurance, if you’re like me and don’t have pharmacy coverage for Dexcom (I assume if you did have pharmacy coverage, you wouldn’t still be dealing with Solara). Unfortunately Advanced Diabetes Supply isn’t contracted with Aetna, but I have seen them recommended multiple times.
You’d think Dexcom would be a bit more helpful in terms of making sure we get our supplies without issues. I never had a problem when they were shipping supplies directly to customers. They really screwed us by requiring us to obtain the supplies from third party companies. Every single time I have an issue with a supplier, I do log a complaint with Dexcom which they supposedly then forward to their “supplier” team or whatever. I’d like to think that they want to intervene so that people who are having issues like us don’t end up switching to Medtronic instead, but honestly not sure they care, since they have so many type 2s purchasing their supplies now, they really don’t need business from the type 1s anymore. That’s the impression I get.
Best of luck, you are not alone in these frustrations!
I got a call from CCS Medical just over one week ago that they could not upgrade my G6 to G7 for my current in-process order so my June order would still be G6 supplies, however, they assured me that my July order will be G7.
I did not expect that call and considered it exceptionally good customer service to be so unnecessarily proactive. I have had nothing but great service and short wait times the few times I have needed to contact CCS. The last call I initiated was about 1 month ago to set in motion the upgrade from G6 to G7, and they were quick to pickup and prompt to set the wheels in motion for the upgrade.
Monthly refills are computer-to-computer, quick, accurate, and arrive promptly after the order is placed.
Switching suppliers always involves some clerical steps, like connecting them with your prescribing doctor, they having to get the doctor’s up to date notes, etc. I suggest you start the process right after you get a full shipment from your current supplier.
I completely agree with Marie20 about Advanced Diabetes Supply. They were easy to work with when switching, and they are easy when reordering.
Don’t know if this will help but I now use my pharmacy for my G7. Was with byram and they were ok but takes too much time to ship. If there is a glitch can become a problem. I just call Walmart pharmacy a few days before script is due and I have my supplies in a day or two at most. I like having more control.
Good morning. My Dexcom G7 is covered as DME at Walmart. No copay same as byram. Good luck with Medicare. Has good points and bad. A lot depends on supplement insurance plan or Medicare advantage. And also the carrier. My first advantage company advertised as a plan for diabetics and didn’t cover anything. Had to go on FSL for a year until I changed plans.
There is some relation between my supplier (Advanced Diabetes Supply) and Medicare I don’t understand… this being that ADS can only bill at certain times. I have been with them ( not by choice) sense the G4 days. At issue is that they can’t predict when the last of the 9 sensors sent is going to expire. Several times they had to send an extra sensor to cover this time period . I have always informed them when I start the last thee sensor and when the third will expire.
Medicare has rules that limit the deliveries to 3 month’s of supplies.
I have worked closely with CCS Med stepping off Medtronic 770G and G3 sensor that the warranty expired.
Originally, my Dr sent old labs and the prescription for 3 boxes/ 3 months. The problem is, I was using 1 set in 2 days. I had to have my Dr send updated lab results and a new Rx to CCS Med for 4 boxes in 3 months.
The problem is Medicare limits supplies to the minimum quantity. This is concerning because there are no reserves a the end of the 3 month period. So call Tandem if you have a failed infusion set, or Dexcom if you have a bad sensor.
It was my experience that if you call CCS Med, they were very helpful in getting you switched over.
I have an update on my experience with CCS Med. Medicare is allowing 3 month shipments of sensors now. CCS Med switched me over to a 3 month order, but that left a 2 month gap in sensors. I called them today and they admitted they made a mistake. They are sending the next order over night for my next 3 boxes of sensors.
It was disappointing they made a change in delivery and did not let me know.
They admitted that they did messed up.
This was the second problem I have had with CCS Me.
So, the moral is, watch them carefully. bookmark the portal and set up an account.
