Month: August 2015

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Diabetes is so easy to manage!

I think that anyone who has actually dealt with diabetes can hear the sarcasm dripping from that title. Or they were shocked and wondered what kind of snake oil I was going to sell. No snake oil here!

We are back to the insurance company only wanting to cover 1 test strip per day. “102 every 90 days”. Part of having any semblance of control is knowing where you are at. How can anyone do that on ONE test strip per day? I shouldn’t have done this, but I gave up. I said I would just pay out of pocket for them. I know that this gives the insurance  company what they want, which is more money in their pocket, but come on!

To break it down again, my husband has double insurance coverage. Generally the secondary picks up any co-pays or costs that the primary did not pay for. So, 3 test strips a day, leaves a $50 co-pay for us, which the secondary was picking up. They refused to pick up the $50 co-pay for 4-6 strips per day. It didn’t cost them any more, but they still denied it. Now they are back to saying that they will only cover the 102 every 90  days. We tried to explain that he is type 1, because the 102/90 is what they pay for type 2, while they do 102/30 for type 1, but somehow it’s not getting through. I just need the darn test strips, ok?

We have started the process to get an insulin pump for my husband. This should be helpful in managing his diabetes, if the stress of the process doesn’t kill him first. We met with the doctor, who sent  the information to the pump supply, who contacted insurance. Insurance will not consider paying for the device until he does a blood test that shows the level of c-peptides in his body. A Type 1 diabetic has low or no c-peptides, while a type 2 could have normal peptides. From my research, it seems that they would require a person with normal or high peptides to control their diabetes through diet and exercise. Since my husband is type 1, this is  not going to happen. 45 years of medical records seem to make little difference.

There are two requirements for the test:

  • fasting after midnight
  • blood sugar below 150

The first night, I woke up shortly before midnight and checked his blood sugar. It was 82, so I had him drink some chocolate milk. I woke up again at 3, and it was 62, so he had more chocolate milk. He could not do the test because he was no longer “fasting after midnight”. Last night, I checked him at midnight and he was a little on the high side, so I woke him up and had him take a shot. He was still too high this morning for the test, so we will have another go at it tonight.

It’s really frustrating that I know other diabetics who have taken this test, but they were not required to have a blood sugar under 150. Generally, he is under 180 in the morning, but it is rare that he is under 150. Even if he was under 150, there is no guarantee that it won’t go up between  here and the doctor’s office and waiting to be called in for the lab. Or, it could go the opposite way, he could be under 150, but drop rapidly because he has been fasting since midnight.

We will do this. WE WILL. I am flabbergasted at the amount of frustration that a insurance company is willing to cause a diabetic. He wants a pump to have better control over his diabetes. He wants a pump to have more normal blood sugars. Making my husband meet a list of requirements, although short, makes him feel like a failure when he doesn’t meet them.

We would love your prayers for better results tonight. If he could get this part out of the way, I know he will feel victorious.