[Diabetes-talk] For those who have Liberty Medical to get these prodigy voice test strips

[Michael Park]

Hi Cheryl.

You are not alone in this one. We have similar problems here in South 
Africa. On the government health care system, they require you to have 
an Accu-chek Active meter in order to get strips from the government. 
However, some little idiot in the burocracy is clamping down on people 
getting free testing strips here.

I currently use a One Touch Profile, without a voice, of course, but my 
wife does the checking for me. I had considered changing over to the 
Accu-chek till my diabetologist advised me on the state of the nation as 
far as strips go. The strips for the One Touch Profile are hellishly 
expensive, but having done my sums, I have found that in the long term, 
staying with Johnson And Johnson is actually going to be cheaper for me 
than to switch over to the Roche product. For one, glucometers are 
expensive here and for another the Accu-chek Active strips cost ten 
percent more than the strips for the One Touch Profile.

A significant part of the reason why diabetics in this part of the world 
do not test as regularly as they ought, is the cost of the strips. 
However, I operate as a diabetes counsellor both in our local church and 
under the umbrella of an organisation called Disability Connection, 
having fought a long, lonely  and bitter fight to get the organisation  
to recognise diabetes as a disability, and yet it still happens that 
diabetics are not always catered for at functions. I cannot be a 
diabetes counsellor with a less than exemplary lifestyle, and I am very 
conscious of my own situation.

On a recent occasion at a DC meeting, for instance, due to rank bad and 
unprofessional organisation, lunch was served two whole hours late with 
the embarrassing result that I went hypo during a meeting. While hypos 
can always be fixed, I would surmise that it would actually be better to 
try and prevent them rather than fix them. It goes without saying that I 
had a word or two to say to the organisers, that does not bear repeating 
here.

I don't know how you are intending to tackle the problem with congress, 
but I mention my argument here that diabetes is a disability, purely on 
the basis that I understand a disability to be a condition which has as 
its effect, the denial of a person to the normal amenities of life.

Sure, diabetics are not necessarily crippled as a result of the 
condition, but if I take myself as an extreme example of a relatively 
healthy diabetic for instance, I cannot just eat and drink as I like. I 
have to be on a special diet which lays down requirements not only of 
what I may and may not have, but also the times when I have to have 
specific things and in my book, that effectively entails the denial of 
enjoyment of the amenities of life. If a diabetic goes hypo, for 
instance, that also involves a denial of the enjoyment of the amenities 
of life. When I do go hypo, I am unable to function for the rest of the day.

I mention this because in our bill of rights to the constitution, health 
care is supposed to be an entrenched right and so too, the right of 
disabled persons not to be discriminated against. The reason why I 
fought this campaign out here is quite simply, to get diabetics onto the 
same ticket as people with disabilities, thereby effectively 
strengthening the case of the diabetic community to bargain a better 
deal for itself.

I speak under correction, but if my memory serves me right, one could 
interpret your bill of rights in a similar manner to ours, namely that 
the right to health care is entrenched, and that discrimination against 
disabled persons is unlawful. Furthermore, your Disabled Persons Act of 
2000 also has a very net of provisions protecting disabled persons.

In my experience, people generally don't consider diabetics either and 
so I reciprocate mutually. Come snack time during the day, I fish out my 
fruit without asking and explaining and if people don't like it, then as 
far as I am concerned, they can hop. As I said to one person rather 
bluntly recently, they are not going to take care of my health, and so I 
will do that on my terms. Even when I go to functions now, and my 
medication has been changed so that I don't have as many hypos anymore, 
I take my precautions for the meal being late and I take an extra fruit 
along with me just to help keep my sugar stable. My diabetes counsellor 
did caution that I must not take it for granted that I will never get a 
hypo, and remembering that it is not a pleasant experience when it 
happens to me, I just do my own thing anyway.

I don't know what strategy you are going to adopt, but for my two cents' 
worth, I would suggest that in order to argue a stronger case for the 
rights of diabetics, diabetes should, in addition to being a health care 
concern, also be dealt with as a disability. Believe me, if my 
experience is anything to go by, even a liberal constitution, without 
the political will to enforce the rights of persons, has a value which 
does not exceed a piece of toilet paper. The only way in which you can 
stand a very good chance to win this one, is to try and fit as many 
strings to your bow as possible.

I must conclude on a positive note by saying that due to its structure 
and mechanism, the NFB naturally lends itself to the kind of strategy I 
advocate. The fact that there is a diabetes list on the NFB site rather 
speaks for itself in this regard. What needs to happen is that this mode 
of thinking is something which you would have to communicate to your 
congressmen over there, as well.

HTH.

Michael Park
"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness." (psalm 84:10 NKJV).

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On 2010/11/22 18:08, cheryl echevarria wrote:
> Here in NY I have had 5 people call me one after the other, who have
> insurance companies that get the prodigy test strips from Liberty Medical.
>
> Liberty Medical is telling people and sending out letters that Prodigy is
> not making the meters and strips any longer.
>
> I just got off the Prodigy.com they said no such a thing is going on.
>
> For some reason Liberty Medical is no longer carrying the prodigy products.
>
> My question is for Kelly and others on the list.
>
> Um, what do people do who have no other choice with there insurance on who
> to use for the durable medical supplies for the prodigy strips.  First ADS
> and now Liberty Medical, they are also a company that handles a lot of
> Medicare clients, since they are a durable medical supplier for Medicare.
>
> Should we be aware of other companies that are not carrying the product
> anymore?
>
> This is a legit question, I am not trying to be rude and nasty, since I was
> just elected as board member of the Newly created DAN Division here in NY.
> I will be doing a lot of fact finding not only for NY but for this division
> as well, since I am a medical insurance specialist as well, that people need
> alternatives to getting there supplies.
>
> Like myself I am still having issues in the future of getting my lantus, my
> doctor had to call in an override to the insurance company and into Medco
> where I get my meds.
>
> I have spoken to my congressman's office and they are helping me with this
> issue.  Hopefully but the end of the month I will not have to worry about
> Lantus, we are trying to get me on the insulin pump, but at the same time if
> I cannot get on it, and I can't use another insulin for my diabetes, we need
> to talk to congress when we are in Washington this year about this, and let
> them know the problems with our insurance companies and suppliers as well.
>
> The biggest compliment you can pay me is to recommend my services!
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> http://Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
>
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise and Travel Inc.
>
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>
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