Welcome Letter
Hi everyone,
My name is Arnold Berkowitz. I have been a Type-I diabetic since
1980, and am Insulin Dependent. I have an 18 year old son, who is also a
diabetic.
I have been on "regular" insulin therapy pretty much since being
diagnosed, and have relatively irregular sugar pattern. My control tends
to follow the "brittle" pattern, and by Glyco-Hgb’s, in genenral run into
the 8’s.
I am in the process on changing my endochrin doc to one that
follows a more agressive path of diabetic therapy, and shall soon be on a
more responsive (or more agressive) pro-active type of therapy.
I have asked to be put onto a pump several time and we were turned
down by my HMO every time (too expensive), and my previous
endochrinologist was too busy expanding his practice to act on my behalf
to appeal the decisions for no pump, so…..I was never approved for a
pump.
This new doctor is willing to fight for his patients, so, I am
looking foreward to getting an insulin pump soon. Waiting patient for my
first appointment with him, to meet him, get evaluated, and get things
started.
Presently, I am on three injections daily, test my sugars 4-6
times per day, and my most recent A1c was 7.7, which is an inprovement.
I take Humalin N and Humalin R (not currently using Humalog), synthroid
and a dialy multi-vitamin.
I look foreward to the input, suggestions and advise of others.
May 6th, 2003 at 5:21 pm
Hi Arnold:
be patient and persistent. In some states, if Medicaid can pay for pump, why
can’t your HMO?
Sounds like discrimination to me, and maybe the tack you should take instead
of wishing they consider it.
When you look at the long term benefits - less hospitalizations for
complications related to DM, the pump makes more sense, and far cheaper than
one hospital admission which can average $ 700 + per day not including
diagnostic testing and treatment. I’m sure some of the rest of us can tell
you about experiences. But, if you don’t fight for it, it ain’t gonna
happen. Wouldn’t be the first time someone bucked the "system". Good Luck,
Joan
May 7th, 2003 at 8:22 am
Welcome Arnold,
Just wanted to add my two cents worth. 18 years ago when I got my first
pump my insurance company tried to tell me it was experimental and
would not pay for it.
I contacted the pump makers and they helped me out. They sent all kinds
of info to the insurance company and the FDA info that it wasn’t
experimental. But the main thing that helped was they cited other
cities and states where their insurance had paid for an insulin pump.
And this was discrimination. Be persistent, it pays off.
Good Luck.
Gail