By: damian150

damian150 — Wed, 18 Jun 2003 14:07:44 +0000

>And are you covered for pharmacy? Insulin comes under that one…make sure
>he or she writes for # 5 vials for use in insulin pump and refill 5x, so
you
>always have enough
…so
>much for now…Joan:)

By: daphne400

daphne400 — Wed, 18 Jun 2003 06:29:06 +0000

Hi Arnold:
I know trying to shop for health insurance is a trip, best thing is to look
at what each plan will cover….general health visits to your physician,
seeing a certified diabetes educator and pump training should be included in
your plan as well as nutritionist so you can learn about carbohydrate
counting and how it applies to better control of your glucose. Are you also
covered for physician extenders, like Nurse Practitioners who also do a lot
of diabetes patient management….Gotta plug my future self.
do you have to stay in network in order to be seen, need a referral? what are
the limits on hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and durable medical
equipment which is what a pump and supplies will be…your insulin will be a
pharmacy item…make sure your endocrinologist writes you prescriptions for
each and every item you will need…I’m still waiting for my Pump Therapy
book, I hear it’s a good resource.
After you join whichever plan you choose, make sure there is no gap in your

coverage between the old and the new….they should overlap so that you have
100 % coverage.
Find out also what your endocrinologist does-have a full comprehensive
education and management team? Is he a proponent for pump therapy? that’s
very important. you want to make sure that your health care team is on the
money about pump therapy so you can get the best result for yourself.
Make sure you have a way of getting hold of emergency contact people in the
office when the endocrinologist isn’t there. I had that problem when It was
time to get more pump supplies and batteries…the supplier wouldn’t send or
approve anything without new prescriptions…so infusion sets, syringes, site
preps, dressings, tape, batteries…each prescription has to be specific,
most insurance co. won’t pay for more than a 3 months supply so that means
you want to have enough infusion sets for the flub ups you’ll have when you
first start out…make sure the endocrinologist writes for at least 110
infusion sets total so you always have backup…Has to write to change site
daily….on the prescription, and put a refill 3x on it, hopefully the
insurance company will approve.
And are you covered for pharmacy? Insulin comes under that one…make sure
he or she writes for # 5 vials for use in insulin pump and refill 5x, so you
always have enough
You may also like to have different types of sets so that you can alternate
depth of the site as well as where you can locate it. It will all take about
a month for you to get the hang of it…I’m pretty new at it, only 5 months +
now, but I wouldn’t go back to the old way, my HgA1C is down to 6.7 from
originally 10.0 which is a major accomplishment.
You’ll start to become more knowledgable about your diabetes and how your
body works, what it will do in terms of cooperation and what it won’t…so
much for now…Joan:)

Comments on: An Update

By: damian150

By: daphne400