I thought it was going well.

Some of it is great.

I’m learning that maybe not everything is going so great.

I haven’t screamed at a phone menu yet.

I officially started Medicare on April 1. I seem to have figured out how to pay my bills through auto payment. I have received a box of pump supplies and have an order in place for CGM supplies. I have received my insulin at no cost through Medicare Part B and had another prescription covered at no charge through Part D. I belong to a new health club through a program offered by my supplemental insurance. On the surface all of this looks great and some of it is. Unfortunately not everything is going smoothly and Medicare is not approving everything.

What’s Going Great:

Silver&Fit:  This fitness program is a benefit of my BCBS Supplemental policy. It provides a membership at a participating fitness facility, an instructor-led class, or access to Home Fitness kits. I joined a club five minutes from home that has a huge number of work-out machines, weights, a spa, nutrition and fitness programs, locker rooms, and free fitness classes. I have been attending numerous strength and cardio classes and having a great time. No charge at all. My only limitation is that I can only use the club I joined and not the other branches around Minneapolis. I literally walked in the door and was a member 10 minutes later.

Doctor Visits: In April I had two routine doctor appointments. It was easy to provide my Medicare information and as far as I can see, they are being covered with no issues. I feel bad seeing how low the Medicare reimbursement is for my doctors.

Not Perfect but On the Right Track:

Insulin for Pump: As I explained in a previous Medicare blogpost, insulin for an insulin pump is covered under Part B DME. With my supplemental plan coverage that means I get my insulin at no cost. I am not bound by formulary restrictions nor does my insulin require a copay or put me into the Part D donut hole. The new prescription from my endocrinologist contained the required information and I spoke to a pharmacy tech to remind them to file it with Part B. Very quickly I got an email that the prescription was ready; it had been charged to my Part D plan with a charge of $481 for 3 vials.

The next morning I went to Walgreens and fortunately the pharmacist on duty knew how to correct the problem. She told me that it would be referred to the central Walgreens Medicare department and it might take 2 days to set up. That afternoon I got a call from the Medicare department and was asked for information such as my pump brand, model, serial number, purchase date, and whether it was paid for by Medicare or private insurance. That all made sense and was easy to provide. She finished our conversation with two questions. How tall are you? What do you weigh? Huh??? She said that my insulin would be ready for pick-up in an hour and it was.

Pump Supplies: In March I contacted Tandem Diabetes to learn my Medicare supplier for pump supplies. I was told that according to my supplemental insurance, I should use CCS Medical and Tandem would set up the account for me. CCS has been great so far and has contacted me and my endo’s office several times to get the necessary information. One requirement was a C-Peptide test which I had never had before in my diabetes career. As expected, I passed or failed the test depending on your criteria. I failed because I produce minimal to no insulin. I passed because I qualify for a pump and supplies under Medicare.

My pump supplies arrived quickly and were exactly as ordered. Last evening I went into the Medicare site to check my claims and was stunned to see that my pump supplies were denied. I called Medicare this morning and got no good answers as to why. It was suggested that maybe I was using the wrong supplier and I was given the name of another supplier who doesn’t even provide supplies for insulin pumps. I called CCS and the rep indicated that they were already working with Medicare to get it straightened out. She said that it was very common for supplies to be denied on the first go-round for patients new to Medicare. She assured me that everything is OK and I am choosing to believe her.

A Total Mess:

All of us on Medicare were thrilled when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in January 2017 that the Dexcom G5 was now covered as a therapeutic CGM under Medicare DME. Soon after that CMS released a document with preliminary coverage criteria and Liberty Medical was identified as the sole Medicare-approved supplier for the G5. Liberty was deluged with calls but managed to start shipping supplies to some customers. One caveat however. In order to receive supplies, you had to sign that you would be responsible for the cost of the supplies if you were not approved by Medicare. Meanwhile it was announced that more specific coverage criteria were still to be released and Medicare was not approving orders filled by Liberty.

Last week it became apparent that Liberty is not going to continue to supply G5 supplies for Medicare beneficiaries. All along Dexcom has indicated that it will not (cannot?) sell G5 supplies out-of-pocket to people covered by Medicare. Please note that the cash price from Liberty is much higher than the previous cash prices from Dexcom. Dexcom will sell G4 supplies to Medicare beneficiaries out-of-pocket. On Monday I received a letter from Liberty officially indicating that they are not going to provide Dexcom supplies after May 28. At this time there is no other supplier.

I placed an order at Liberty about a month ago. I was called last week to indicate that they had everything required to process my order and that it was under medical review. Today I canceled the order because I do not want to be stuck with the responsibility of getting an initial denial by Medicare, having to pay cash for the order, and then filing an appeal. I think I’ll wait to see what happens in coming weeks or months.

Dexcom has been quiet and provided little help to seniors. Today some people received a form letter from Dexcom indicating that they are working on the problem and stating: “If you have an immediate, critical need for Dexcom G5 Mobile CGM supplies, please contact Dexcom at 888-738-3646.” I did not receive the email.

So currently the Dexcom G5 is covered by Medicare, but not really. I am choosing to be patient and optimistic that everything will be worked out soon. Many other seniors on Facebook are angry and less optimistic.

Summary:

Some of my diabetes needs are being met through Medicare and other things are being worked out. So far I have had no problem reaching customer service reps at Medicare, CCS Medical, Walgreens, Dexcom and Liberty. Everyone has been polite and helpful to the best of their ability. Unfortunately no one at Dexcom or Liberty really seems to know what is going on and I believe them when they say the delay is with CMS. The Medicare Help Line was answered promptly but they could give me no reason for my supply denial and then nicely gave me inaccurate information. CCS Medical has been very responsive and so has Walgreens.

Right now I have everything that I need, but that won’t be true for the longterm. In the past I have often had problems when switching insurance plans and suppliers. I am hopeful that most of my Medicare problems are in the same category. I expect the pump supply problem to be resolved fairly quickly. I am less optimistic about CGM coverage.

So that’s today’s story about Medicare and Type 1 diabetes. Stay tuned for more. 😀