On My Mind…
We recently applied for diabetes medical insurance.
Our previous policy was finished and it was time for renewal. We had so many options. Most had the same, or very similar coverage.
We know that diabetes medical insurance is more costly than many other health cover policies, so we expected a higher premium for my Type 1 son.
Nevertheless, it was shocking to see the premium outliers at the high end – like so high the other high premiums that had made me gasp looked more realistic.
It made me wonder if those outliers even wanted have a meaningful discussion about diabetes, or was this to just discourage us?
One Giant Flaw in Diabetes Medical Insurance
The thing that left me most thoughtful was that not a single diabetes medical insurance policy covered a single test strip.
If you are thinking about devices like flash monitoring or CGMs – those are not covered either.
One agent was optimistic and told us maybe one strip per day!
This is heartbreaking.
Regular Testing is Key to Managing Diabetes
How can we expect people to take care of their diabetes and keep their complications low (and costs to insurance companies low) if they are not covered for any testing?
If the patient is not to engage in their care, if testing is not supported, then how is a doctor even going to know outside of an A1C test what is going on with their patients?
How will they know how to make changes in medication?
How will a patient know what their fasting A1C is?
I know there is some controversy around people with Type 2, or pre-diabetes checking too much, but no strips at all?
Health Care or Disease Care?
Why would you rather pay for retinopathy, neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, and the list of other complications that can occur from diabetes, than cover test strips?
Please tell me if these health issues cost considerably less than test strips and I’ll gladly step off my soap box. All the medical information that I have listened to and read over the years points to testing as the most effective means of living a healthy life with diabetes.
If you work in a health insurance company, and you are receiving this and have read this far, this is an open invitation to discuss how we can make this better.
I want to believe that you understand why this is problematic for care – and your costs.
I want to believe that we all want to do better.
I want to believe that we all want to empower people with diabetes.
Please tell me that I am not wrong …
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I’m 100% agreed with what you wrote about the cost and coverage,
Please try your best to help us to convince the insurance company to cover more needed stuff to manage the T1 Diabites.
Many thanks
Dear Salam, Be sure we will do our best to continue to raise the importance of coverage for basics that enable people with diabetes (and their caretakers) to be empowered to achieve the best results with this condition.
Honestly I cannot say if it is OK, or not. Health insurance is about where you place costs. Place benfits here subtract them there. Is this a high dollar deductible? A PPO? Managed care? Would you trade no coverage for kidney damage in exchange for test strips?
Ont he face of it yes test strips make sense. But so do test strips for people how use medicare which often limit T-1’s to two or three per day. Yet all seniors take that coverage because there is little else.
My skepticism about the question is rooted in reality. Is it better to subscribe to a program like Livongo or pay the additional premium?
Yes I also want preventative care in my health plans and test strips are a big part of that. But I also need a premium I can afford and as much coverage as possible for when the poop hits the fan.
You just cannot call out one facet of a health plan and declare it all bad. You must think of the whole not just the little parts.
I suggest you do that before condemning a plan or an industry.
By the way again I do want my test strips paid for so i get it. I promise.
Thank you for this well, thought out comment Rick. And you are right.. I’m not condemning the entire industry. When I shared this on my LinkedIn, I put it more as an invitation to discuss how we can do it better. We do not have Livingo here.. We agree premiums will be higher, but when they are higher and there is absolutely no difference in a child with Type1, and in a 50+ year old with only minor things, it could be questioned. Even one test strip is ok, or some kind of limit. The irony of no disposables is also that people who use pens have no coverage for needles – sucking it out with a straw is not an option… My point is more that the system is flawed and no one is talking about this. There is so much new technology coming out, but no one can afford it, and insurance is not paying for it.. so that goes wasted at many levels. I don’t have a silver bullet, but if companies started talking and digging deeper, we might find some middle ground to avoid disaster. As always, we appreciate your insight and wisdom!