Under the Skin blood glucose monitoring.

[Nancy LC]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090801015.html

Under the Skin blood glucose monitoring.

[lowcarbUgh]

Unfortunately, many people have been denied insurance coverage for it. I know some type 1s who test every hour with a finger stick. It works almost as well.

[Nancy LC]

Oh, I thought this was some new technology.

[lowcarbUgh]

It is fairly new. :)

[eddiemcm]

"I know some type 1s who test every hour with a finger stick"
Wow!!I gripe about having to test 4,5 times a day.
Eddie

[v-effect]

I use a CGMS, and it has cut down on my testing a bit. I have posted here in the past that the CGMS has helped me understand my insulin to protein ratio, and how long to give myself an extended bolus with the pump. For example, I noted that a bison burger kept "translating" to increased bg for over 7 hours- now I do an extended bolus for that time. The ability to see trends is wonderful.
I used to test 15-20 times a day, Now it's about 12-15.

V.

[RobLL]

Let me raise a sore point: The device costs $1000 and strips (or whatever they call them) are $350 a month, $4-5000 a year. And that is just for testing. The medical device and drug manufacturers are simply bankrupting the entire medical system. I myself will not demand or allow my insurance company to spend that kind of money unless it is absolutely necessary. There is a sense in which all of the medical insurance money can be considered to be part of a common pot, and what I spends is money that cannot be spent on someone else. With little help from doctors I try hard to control my own medical expenses - whether insurance company money or my co-pays. My heart is grieved at the number of people who have no medical insurance.

ps - I would like my doctor office to have a few of these devices, and use them for a week once a year or so.

[lowcarbUgh]

It is important for pregnant type 1s to have them and some type 1s suffer hypoglycemic unawareness and need such a monitor. Some type 1s make numerous trips to the ER for severe lows. I've never had that problem and can always treat myself. The sets don't need to cost $350 a month. None of this stuff should cost as much as it does, not even conventional test strips which are boosting the profits of Dia-Business at everyone's expense. Type 1s need to test frequently too. A type 2 doesn't risk going from 50 to 500 by over treatng a low, but a type 1 can do that pretty easily.

I don't see this type of device being prescribed for type 2s who are the majority of diabetes patients.

[RobLL]

Susan - good points.

ps - had my first really low (44) insulin low today. used to regular ins. doses 4 1/2 hours apart. I need Lispro, then I can do it like Bernstein says to. Regular is just to blunt an instrument to treat highs.

[v-effect]

I think anyone who wants this device should have it. Demands from patients for the very best in diabetes care do not cause prices to soar- profits do! I did get my insurance company to pay for it though many grievances- and I think of that long hard battle as a public service, paving the way for more people to apply and win. There are not limited resources - for more people to have more things, the medical industry just has to give up some of its huge windfall profit.
V.

[RobLL]

Just remember, insurance companies at the end of each year tote up the total claims for last year, a certain percent for profit, and anticipated inflation, and then divide that amount amongst their customers, and that is your new insurance rate.

So if your are young and healthy, you look for a company that kicks out people who have high medical bills. Insurance companies have to survive, and low fees means lots of people excluded. When governments take over insurance they too have to put limits on how much people can spend. I am told in Germany that if a heart attack person cannot be revived to consciousness at the scene they are not taken to the hospital, because such people almost never will recover even at the hospital.

One way around this is to introduce sliding scales of co-pays, particularly as medicines are super expensive, and as the procedure/device/medicine can be replaced by cheaper ones.

[Nancy LC]

So if your are young and healthy, you look for a company that kicks out people who have high medical bills
Pretty sure they can't do that. They can just choose not to accept you when you try to enroll, but then again, if you enroll through your employer they don't have a choice.

[RobLL]

Pretty sure they can't do that. They can just choose not to accept you when you try to enroll, but then again, if you enroll through your employer they don't have a choice.

Buying medical insurance on your own is extremely expensive because of the dynamic I mentioned. Some states are now requiring these plans to accept all comers are standard rates, which are very high. Young healthy people game the situation by not buying, or by buying high deductable plans from out of state.

[lowcarbUgh]

ps - had my first really low (44) insulin low today. used to regular ins. doses 4 1/2 hours apart. I need Lispro, then I can do it like Bernstein says to. Regular is just to blunt an instrument to treat highs.

Are you going to discuss this with your doctor? You know you can buy Humalog or Novolog in Canada without an Rx.