[Diabetes-talk] Update on Supplier for Insulin Under Medicare Part B

[Veronica Elsea]

Alan, thanks for such a detailed response. Umm, am I being silly or is there
some really strange reason that the government needs to know your weight and
height in order to let you have insulin? That's just weird.
Anyway, thanks.
Veronica

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-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Alan Lemly
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 11:10 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'; blind-diabetics at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Update on Supplier for Insulin Under Medicare Part
B

I was successful in getting my insulin prescription covered under Medicare
Part B at my local Walgreens and wanted to recap the steps taken to do so:

 

1.	I asked my nurse to send in a new Humalog script to my local
Walgreens with a 90day supply and 4 refills.
2.	Since I was already in the Walgreens system under my previous group
insurance coverage, I received an email the next day saying the prescription
was ready with the correct quantity of Humalog but with a price of $1,253
and change.
3.	I called the pharmacy department of my local Walgreens and told the
agent that my insurance had changed and that the insulin needed to be
processed under Medicare Part B since I used an insulin pump. He told me
that the charge of $1,253 was a retail amount since my insurance info in
their system was no longer active. I gave him my Medicare Member ID and his
system would not process the claim immediately but directed him to the
Walgreens Danville HQ facility for the additional Medicare processing
required.
4.	The next day, I received a call from someone at the Walgreens
Danville location who asked me some questions about my insulin pump model
and serial number, the date I got it, who paid for it, my height and weight,
and whether i used my pump continuously or intermittently. I also provided
her with detailed contact info for my doctor's office since she said she
would need to get some more documentation from them.
5.	I just now phoned my local Walgreens to check on the status of my
prescription. This was two days after I spoke to the Danville contact. My
prescription is ready for the same quantity and the price is now $67 and
change.
6.	I will need to take my Medicare and AARP supplemental plan member
cards to Walgreens so they can get copies and update my online record when I
pick up the insulin.

 

I did spend many hours getting up to speed on Medicare Part B and what it
covers in the diabetic world but I think most of the time was spent in
locating a supplier, especially for the insulin. I'm very happy to report
that this story has a happy ending.

 

Thanks for all who posted on this thread with your experience.

 

Alan Lemly

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