[Diabetes-Talk] Pump upgrade - to be or not to be ... ...

[Eileen Scrivani]

Hi All,

I need to blow off steam over the hell I’ve gone through trying to get my insulin pump upgraded. As you may or may not recall I have been using the Medtronics Paradigm pump which just came out of its 5 year warrantee.

Through persuasion from higher levels, Medtronics was agreeable to letting me upgrade to one of the 530G pumps that got discontinued last October so I would still have a working pump that would be under warrantee coverage over the next 5 years. I started the process with Medtronics about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Medtronics in turn reached out to the  supplier I’ve been dealing with all these years to see if they still had a 530G in stock and they did. Great, right? You would think so but here’s where the process once again goes crazy. 

The supply company contacted me 2 days ago about paperwork I had to sign off on for Medicare & to let me know they were sending more paperwork for my doc to sign off on. I signed what I had to as did my doctor. I just got a call from the supply company telling me they cannot sell the pump to me because under Medicare they will only agree to pay for an insulin pump up to a bit over $4,000. Even if I could pay the amount beyond the Medicare limit they won’t let me! They cannot sell the pump outright to me and they won’t let me cover the difference that Medicare will not pay for so I’m stuck again with not being able to upgrade my pump that is now over 5 years old. This is so phenomenally upsetting & the absurd rules of coverage. the supply company’s rep  told me that unless I wanted the 630G she could not let me have an insulin pump! How crazy is this system that a now discontinued pump is more expensive than the newest version of the Medtronics insulin pump. I’d love a 630G if I had the eyes in my head that worked so I could use the dam thing!

I have a call into the Medtronics rep to see if they know of other distributors that might work something out with me or sell the 530G for a less expensive price. Now I get to wait over a long holiday weekend thinking I’ll not be able to upgrade. God help me if I have to go back onto injections.

Thanks for listening to my sob story.

Eileen
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