[Diabetes-talk] getting started with medicare

[Joy Stigile]

Hi Alan,

I called Medicare and they gave me the names of mail order companies that 
carried my strips, Insulin and syringes.  I took just the first four names 
they gave me and only two carried the strips and one of them never returned 
my calls.   The first company I called for my Insulin and syringes gave me 
quick service so, I stayed with them.  The prices are fixed through Medicare 
so, there is no different amounts to consider.  The strips were carried by 
one company and the Insulin and syringes were carried by a different 
company.  I don't think you will be able to use 1 company for all of your 
supplies.  But, you never know that was just my experiences!

Warmly, Joy


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Lemly" <walemly at gmail.com>
To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>; 
<blind-diabetics at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 11:34 AM
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Getting Started with Medicare and 
Mail-OrderingDiabetic Supplies


> As a new Medicare enrollee, I'm looking for guidance on the best way to 
> set
> up my diabetic supplies ordering for minimal ongoing effort before asking 
> my
> endocrinologist for new prescriptions. I want to do everything with a mail
> order provider since online ordering and mail delivery is so much easier. 
> I
> would also prefer to only use one mail order provider to make things 
> easier
> for my doctor for submitting the prescriptions for my diabetic supplies 
> and
> other medications.
>
>
>
> I use an insulin pump so as I understand it, all my diabetic testing
> supplies as well as my pump consumables and insulin will be covered under
> Medicare Part B. I also have supplemental MediGap and Part D drug plans
> through AARP and UnitedHealthcare.
>
>
>
> Since the mail order provider used by the AARP Part D plan is OptumRx, I
> assume I'll need to check them out for my diabetic supplies coverage if I
> only want to use one provider. Is the easiest way to do this through the
> Medicare website? I have an online Medicare account already set up. I'm 
> just
> not familiar with where to go to find the available mail order pharmacies
> which are enrolled in Medicare and which accept assignment. I'm coming 
> from
> the employer group insurance world where everything was done with one
> supplier and users had to set up online accounts with them and I'm trying 
> to
> duplicate that in the Medicare world. I assume that once I've settled on a
> mail order provider, that I'll need to go to their website and set up an
> online account.
>
>
>
> Any recommendations on how to accomplish my goal will be greatly
> appreciated. If anyone has advice on what to avoid or why what I'm
> considering might not make the most sense, I'd welcome that too. I know 
> one
> of the first orders of business is to ensure that my supplier stocks the
> test strips and insulin pump consumables I use. I just need some direction
> on how to start researching this online.
>
>
>
> I apologize for the cross-post to more than one list but hopefully there 
> is
> not much subscriber overlap. Thanks in advance for any guidance that you 
> can
> provide.
>
>
>
> Alan Lemly
>
> _______________________________________________
> Diabetes-talk mailing list
> Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Diabetes-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/joystigile%40gmail.com