[Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Fri Jan 29 05:16:15 UTC 2010 

Actually, we'd have to think about this fairly carefully as there are 
disparate views on what needs to be done viz. healthcare and insurance 
(remember opening day of the 2009 convention?). If we could come up with a 
purpose that would satisfy both liberals and conservatives, you could ask 
Dr. Maurer; he it would be that would have to approve such a committee.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Jordan Benis" <jbenis at advanceddiabeticsolutions.net>; "Joe Ruffalo" 
<nfbnj at yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 4:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs


>I would like to ask this again.  Last year, Ed Bryant had asked me to Chair 
>a Committee on Health Insurance.  I think we need this as much know, then 
>ever and this should be Organizational wide not Division wide.  Insurance 
>does not only effect the Diabetic but all of us.  With the uncertainty of 
>what will happen with our health insurance over the next full year until 
>our government officials do something to improve it we are still on our 
>own.
>
> So would like to know should we still create this committee.
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> Independent Contractor
> www.Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574
> blog.echevarriatravel.com
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel 
> CST-1018299-10
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Vincent Chaney" <vgc732 at optonline.net>
> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Jordan Benis" <jbenis at advanceddiabeticsolutions.net>; "Joe Ruffalo" 
> <nfbnj at yahoo.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 1:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs
>
>
>> Mike, the DAN Board and All Members,
>>
>> I, as the President of the NFBNJ Diabetes Division was directly involved 
>> in
>> addressing this issue at our state convention. I wrote the following
>> resolution with input from Jordan Benis of Advanced Diabetic Solutions. I
>> thought to address this insurance non acceptance of talking blood glucose
>> meters initially at the state level.
>> The resolution is available in the NFBNJ Sounding Board Fall 2009 from 
>> the
>> web http://www.nfbnj.org/docs/SB_Fall_2009.doc
>> Jordan Benis agreed with me and we both thought to then bring this to the
>> 2010 NFB National Convention in Dallas, Tx. Jordan shared his company has 
>> to
>> reject many people per day due to the HMO formulary list not including 
>> any
>> talking meters.
>> I would be glad to take the lead on presenting this to the NFB Resolution
>> Committee to be reviewed in Dallas this year on behalf of the DAN Board 
>> and
>> all our members.
>> Joseph Ruffalo, NFBNJ President has said a resolution from the NFBNJ
>> Sounding Board Fall 2009 Fall issue is available to be shared as long as 
>> no
>> wording is changed without the approval of the NFBNJ Board. I will 
>> forward a
>> copy of the MS Word document to the DAN Board as the following copy/paste
>> may appear slightly choppy coming through Outlook Express.
>>
>>
>> Resolution 2009-03
>>
>> Regarding Access to Talking Glucometers
>>
>> WHEREAS, in today's market, certain health insurance plans dictate what
>> brand of diabetic equipment a member must use to stay compliant with 
>> their
>> treatment regimen, claiming that this strategy is utilized to control 
>> costs
>> to the plan and prevent healthcare premiums from rising; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, today, most insurance companies contract strictly with one
>> manufacturer who provides only inaccessible, non-talking glucometers,
>> thereby presenting a serious obstacle to complying with their testing
>> regimen for the five million people with diabetes who are blind or 
>> visually
>> impaired; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, the most effective way to stabilize diabetes is for a patient to
>> test his or her blood sugar frequently and take action on any blood sugar
>> that falls outside of medical guidelines; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, because no accessible blood glucose monitors appear on current
>> medical insurance formulary lists, the visually impaired and blind are
>> forced to use blood glucose monitors designed for sighted patients; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, when blind or visually impaired patients are forced to use
>> non-talking meters, they often do not test at all, thereby drastically
>> increasing their risk of complications, morbidity and mortality; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, the only way a blind or visually impaired diabetic can acquire 
>> an
>> accessible blood glucose monitor is through a long and complicated 
>> process
>> of submitting extensive medical documentation, and approval is not
>> guaranteed; and
>>
>> WHEREAS, the inaccessibility of blood glucose monitors on the formulary
>> lists creates a barrier to independence for the blind in choice, 
>> management
>> of health, and control of their diabetes, and hinders their quality of 
>> life:
>> Now, therefore,
>>
>> BE IT RESOLVED by the NFB of NJ, in Convention assembled this 8th day of
>> Nov. 2009, in the township of Clark, NJ, that this organization call upon
>> our state legislators to speedily pass legislation that accomplishes the
>> following purposes: to make it a civil offense to sell inaccessible blood
>> glucose monitors to blind clients; to mandate all insurance companies to
>> have at least one fully accessible glucometer on their formulary list; 
>> and
>> to put into place fines or other penalties to ensure compliance with the
>> law.
>>
>>
>>
>> Vinny
>> Vincent Chaney Jr
>> NFB Diabetes Action Network (DAN) Board
>> NFBNJ Diabetes Division President
>> NJAGDU Division President
>> NFBNJ Technology Division Vice President
>> NFBNJ.ORG Webmaster
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 10:40 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs
>>
>>
>> Actually, we need specifics: who was denied coverage for the Prodigy 
>> Voice
>> by which HMO on what date(s)? With whom did the individual(s) speak? Did
>> he/she/they have a prescription from his/her/their doctor(s) specifying 
>> that
>> the Prodigy Voice be used? In what state(s) did these problems occur 
>> (laws
>> in the several states may be different).
>>
>> Mike Freeman, President
>> Diabetes Action Network
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
>> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 11:50 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs
>>
>>
>> > well, I am also a Medical Insurance Specialist and anything is 
>> > possible.
>> >
>> > Medicare will not deny it,  but that is why I posted it out there, I 
>> > mean
>> > we have a few people who work for these companies on this list, let 
>> > them
>> > answer us on this issue.
>> >
>> > Cheryl Echevarria
>> > Independent Contractor
>> > www.Echevarriatravel.com
>> > 1-866-580-5574
>> > Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
>> > Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel
>> > CST-1018299-10
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message ----- 
>> > From: "David Meyer" <datemeyer at sbcglobal.net>
>> > To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 2:43 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs
>> >
>> >
>> >> Cheryl,
>> >>
>> >> I don't know if this would make any difference or not.  As I'm sure 
>> >> you
>> >> know, all HMOs are not created equal and that some of them in fact try 
>> >> to
>> >> get out of paying for whatever they can get out of.
>> >>
>> >> That said, when I had to replace my glucose meter almost two years 
>> >> ago, I
>> >> told my doctor to write on the referral that the Prodigy Voice was the
>> >> only
>> >> completely accessible glucose meter presently out there and that 
>> >> without
>> >> it,
>> >> I could not test independently, nor could I monitor test results. 
>> >> Taking
>> >> that approach worked for me.
>> >>
>> >> The unfortunate reality in my opinion is that so long as insurance
>> >> companies
>> >> continue to play games with our lives, we must sometimes stretch the
>> >> truth a
>> >> little to get what we want or need.
>> >>
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> >> [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of cheryl 
>> >> echevarria
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 10:19 AM
>> >> To: diabetes-talk
>> >> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Prodigy Voice not being paid by the HMOs
>> >>
>> >> I had brought this up in October when I returned from the State
>> >> Convention
>> >> of NY.
>> >>
>> >> I was told by a Vendor of the Prodigy Voice who is affiliated with
>> >> Advanced
>> >> Diabetic Solutions, by the way I was told that they are going to be a
>> >> vendor
>> >> at both this year's convention and next year's as well.
>> >>
>> >> The Vendors had mentioned that the HMOs such as HIP, Aetna, United
>> >> Healthcare, were not paying for the prodigy voice and others because
>> >> these
>> >> companies feel that these are a fad and that they shouldn't have to 
>> >> pay
>> >> for
>> >> them.
>> >>
>> >> I again ask if Tina Rockwell is on the talk list yet, to let us know 
>> >> this
>> >> so
>> >> that we can possibly put action in motion.  Sue and Cy Fetzner who are
>> >> the
>> >> ones who Represented Advanced Diabetic Solutions as the Convention 
>> >> they
>> >> also
>> >> do great diabetic shoes, I just got my pair, better then the other 
>> >> vendor
>> >> we
>> >> had in Dallas in 2008.
>> >>
>> >> This is a very serious issue and should be worked on as a whole, once 
>> >> we
>> >> find out exactly what is going on.
>> >>
>> >> Cheryl Echevarria
>> >> Independent Contractor
>> >> www.Echevarriatravel.com
>> >> 1-866-580-5574
>> >> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
>> >> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel
>> >> CST-1018299-10
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >>
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>> >
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