[Diabetes-talk] Legislation

[Jordan Benis]

Cheryl,

 

You are right. 'Pure-Play' Medicare will reimburse for fully-audible
glucometers. However, with Medicare Advantage Plans, even our Medicare
patients are now being affected. From the commercial insurance side of the
business, it is really driven by the policy itself. You are right again. At
ADS, our hands are tied behind our backs; however, we will do everything we
can to open up access. Many times ADS is told just 'NO'. Individuals with
visual impairment have to use whatever meter is on formulary. Many times my
team gets lucky, after jumping through hoops, and having physicians fill out
'Medical Necessity' forms. Luckily, we have the team and resources to devote
to this cause. And we will continue to devote time, resources, and money to
open up access because it is the RIGHT thing to do. 

 

It is the same way we offer the single-use, pressure activated, lancets to
our customers with visual impairment. Again, they are reimbursed at the same
rate as the generic lancets, but it is the right thing to do. I also feel
strongly that any kind of audible meter needs to have an audible 'error'
message warning. If a blind individual uses a talking or fully audible meter
today, except for SOLO, and they don't obtain a large enough blood sample,
the meters will display an E4 error message or they give you a FALSE low. 

 

It is critical to the safety of individuals with visual impairment that they
are notified audibly they have not received enough blood on the testing
strip. If a meter gives a blind individual a FALSE LOW test result because
they did not obtain enough blood, think about the ramifications this can an
individual if they take action on this test result. Just something to think
about.