Insurance company slow to deliver, what can diabetics do in an emergency for supplies?
Your pump tells you it’s time to reload your reservoir. You reach into your infusion site box, and your heart sinks, it’s the last one. Even though you told yourself at the beginning of opening the box it was time to reorder. You frantically reload the reservoir, trying to remember if you placed any backup infusion sites in a bag, in the car, in the luggage…
Quickly you pull up your pump’s website, check if you can place an order, and place the order. Three days later you get an email from the supplier, we need to verify with your doctor that you still need this…it may take several weeks.
Details Why is the insurance company broken
Insurance companies, you love the benefits but hate the paperwork, that they have to do. They still use a fax machine, by the way. With all the tech improvements that have been made, nothing can be done without the fax machine. And for those who don’t know or don’t remember, it’s a copy machine over the phone to send a document so someone else can read it.
While they improve the detection of diseases and cancers, they have yet to improve the business practice of getting things done efficiently. I recently scheduled an appointment, they told me it would be a few weeks beyond their normal scheduling time due to a new computer system they used to manage patients. In the software world, that means you don’t buy the software.
You may have your horror stories as well. The best complaint I have is the one mentioned above, we have to verify you need this diabetic supply. I always want to ask if they found a cure I don’t know about. Insurance Companies please treat your chronic patients differently. Lifetime prescriptions would be amazing until we ask for a different one. I would still agree to see a doc twice a year even though, personally, I don’t need to.
How to get supplies
Enough railing on insurance. How do you get supplies when you need them as soon as possible? You can google search and hopefully find some resources that don’t require a prescription and won’t cost more than the pump supplier. Personally, I would not trust eBay so I leave that to your discretion but I did find one that I would recommend. There are several companies that will have your supplies on hand and will get them to you in a short amount of time.
I Recommend Diabetic Warehouse and Why
Remember the email I got earlier, we need to verify you still need pump supplies. I was a week in and had found 2 reserve infusion sites that I had tucked away in backpacks for climbing or travel. I wasn’t going to make it. I searched around and found Diabetic Warehouse. They had all the supplies even the latest Medtronic infusion site, at a fraction of the cost from Medtronic. I placed the order on a Friday and had it by the following Wednesday. I had to change my infusion site the next day.
Diabetic Warehouse has everything a diabetic could possibly need for pump supplies, MDI, glucometers, foot care, and first aid. Pump supplies are for Medtronic, Tandem, and Omnipod. MDI supplies cover the basics, syringes, pens, and alcohol swabs. Glucometers cover the range including test strips. Personally, I get the glucometer with the cheapest test strips. Check them out here.
There are many items they supply and in some cases, it may be more economical to get supplies from them. Reading their reviews aside from generally getting 5 stars a lot of people mention affordability and speed of delivery.
Conclusion
Insurance companies are very helpful when needing very expensive care for a somewhat lower cost, but they are not fast or efficient when you are in a hurry. If you want to stay alive you have to use an insurance company, for the essentials, but some of the essentials you may be getting taken advantage of or can’t get in time. Using other suppliers outside of the one you have been told to use will give you peace of mind. It’s either that or just remember to reorder giving the insurance company time to prove you are still a diabetic. If you want to check out Diabetes Warehouse click here.
Tell me your horror story below, ask me a question or just vent.
Diabetes Can’t Stop US!
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