Comments on: Fighting For My Life

By: Margie

Margie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:13:24 +0000

Hi Lori,
I saw your post. My son is at college at UNC Chapel Hill. He didn’t realize he was out of pods when his last pod expired. It will take a day for him to receive a new pod. He has a box of pods at home but we live in NJ. He has been doing extremely well with the omni pod and is scared to use Novolog. Where do you live? Would you be willing to lend him a pod and we will send you a replacement? Please call me if you have any suggestions. My son has a car and is willing to drive to get a new pod. Thank you so much!
Margie 201-486-2186

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:08:28 +0000

Hi, has anyone received coverage for a pump from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois? I called yesterday and was shocked to hear that they do not cover any diabetic supplies for the pump. ONLY the insulin and syringes. I am working with my physician and pump rep, just wondering if anyone else w/ this insurance has heard this.

By: sharla

sharla — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:44:07 +0000

I have a very limited Unicare policy, and it does cover my insulin, test strips, syringes, and humalog pens (up to a total ANNUAL output on their part of $500), but says that there is NO durable medical coverage. I can not get a pump-period. Good thing I don’t need a pacemaker. For those of you who do have pump coverage, but cannot get the latest and greatest, please consider counting the blessings you do have.

By: cate

cate — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:07:47 +0000

i’ve been a pod user for a year, pump user for 8, i think. anyway, i had HIP when i started on the pod with a minimed that was working just fine. my doctors office said it was medically necessary and it was approved in 4 weeks with an extra annual copay of $100 which i had to pay with minimed anyway. i received 2 training sessions with the diabetic educator as well as several followup calls from omnipod. also i saw it posted that insulin pump therapy is investigational. it is not. it is indicated for use of all diabetics when the doctor says it is medically necessary.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:45:51 +0000

I wanted the omni pod so bad. It took 8 months for Insulet to get themselves together. It wasn’t the insurance company at all. I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield. They weren’t the problem. It was the morons at Insulet. Si I finally got the omni pod and sent it back after 2 weeks. I hated it. The pods stick out under your clothes and it looks like a big buldge. Gross…. The control center. so to speak is just something else to carry around in your purse or for a man, something to put in the other pants pocket beside the wallet. When it alarm in the middle of the night, you have to get up and find the other piece to see what the problem is. What a pain in the, well you know what.
Don’t get the pod. I have had an H Tron plus for 10 years. They replace them every 2 years and give a great credit for the old ones. My insurance pays every penny. I have paid nothing except for the infusion sets, cartridges, etc. After all the hoopla, the omni pod isn’t worth the trouble and expense. DON”T GET IT…..

By: Andrea Dickson

Andrea Dickson — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 18:36:28 +0000

Ah, insurance companies. I have a t-shirt at home that reads “I love Regence Insurance!”. My favorite part about insurance companies is their “waiting period” following a period of being uninsured. I was uninsured for a year while working as a contractor, and paid all of my expenses out of pocket. Nearly six months after becoming insured again, Regence still won’t cover my diabetes needs.

Is that sort of counter-intuitive to anyone else? You HAVEN’T been insured, so we’ll make sure you still AREN’T for another 9 months?

I hadn’t heard of the Omnipod, but I have a feeling my doctor might put me on the regular ol’ pump soon enough.

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:30:20 +0000

My 3 year old has been on the Omnipod for 7 months. We have Harvard Pilgrim HMO and everything is being covered 100% (no hassles). We love the omnipod!

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:16:28 +0000

I just finished up a saline start of the omni pod. I was very impressed with it. I was going to try the other pumps but decided that they couldn’t be better than the omni pod. The PDA was very intuitive and I tried the pod in multiple locations all of which worked out just fine. It’s a little thicker than I would like but not having tubing is a big plus. Last month I attended a pump class and everyone there wanted to start with the omni pod. Seems like those new to pumping are the ones see the big benefit. My insurance company is Aetna and they have an agreement with onmi pod so the insurance coverage is looking sweet. Good luck to all.

By: JasonJayhawk

JasonJayhawk — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 05:14:08 +0000

As DaveH reports with Cigna, insurance companies have agreements with specific pumps — nicknamed “workhorse pumps” — because all they do is pump, but with very little intelligence. The D-Tron and H-Tron pumps, and now the Spirit pump, are all workhorse pumps. They offer minimal functionality, with a 4-year time limit (yes, even the Spirit pump becomes disabled after its 4 year timer counts down to 0 seconds, making it a worthless piece of junk). Insurance companies know that the average employee stays with a company for about 6.5 years, and they just don’t see the savings for healthcare improvement.

Amy, you have one simple solution. Remind them the cost of two hypoglycemic events in the ER room. Or DKA from lack of insulin. These events will easily surpass the cost of a “non-standard” pump.

There was an insurance company (I think Cigna, but could be wrong) actually got in trouble a few years ago for setting up a fake pump company that made the doctor think they were prescribing the patient the pump of choice (actually, a cheaper, underpowered pump). Watch out for their tricks.

Unfortunately, Omnipod is not doing well with the rollout. It will be hard convince them of investing in a product that might not be around in 2 years.

By: difficultpt

difficultpt — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 04:00:26 +0000

I came over here to tag you (I know how you love memes), but now I’m just pissed off at the insurance companies. I’ve had BCBS in the past myself. Oh lordy, I feel an insurance rant coming on over at my blog . . .