Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Laddie on March 28, 2012 at 2:41pm

I have no great advice for you except to talk with the CCS guy again, find out exactly what he needs, have him send the stuff to your doctor again, and have them submit it again. Hopefully people who have had similar problems will have some advice.

I live in Minneapolis and my endo's office is superb at completing paperwork and jumping through all the hoops to get my pump, CGMS, etc. It is a large practice and they are extremely organized and have lots of experience with the pump companies.

I'm kind of surprised that the CCS guy isn't more on the ball because his company makes money by making sure you get your pump and then buy lots of supplies from them.

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on March 28, 2012 at 3:01pm

Call your insurance company and ask if there is another 3rd party supplier you can deal with. If you can't, then call the CCS guy every day to "check on progress" until you get your pump. I'm a non-confrontational person but I've had to fight some battles over diabetes care.

I deal with 3 different 3rd party suppliers - one for my OmniPod pods (Diabetes Management Supply), one for my Dexcom sensors (PumpsIt), and now one for test strips and supplies (Liberty). Pet peeve...why can't I get it all from one supplier when they all carry all of these items. I have found through my experience that all 3rd party suppliers are not equal.

PumpsIt has been great. Dexcom had me approved within a couple of days and had the PumpsIt rep call me. I had my supplies within the same week.

DMS has been inconsistent at best. They had worked with my doc before on OmniPod approvals so that went well. When I got my OmniPod, I also got a supply of Freestyle test strips to use with the OmniPod PDM through DMS. When I was ready to re-order test strips I called DMS and they quoted me an out of pocket copay cost for the test strips that was double my copay at Walgreens. The DMS rep argued with me and was adamant that the price was the price.

So I called my insurance company to see why the test strip copay prices were different and they told me that if I went through Liberty then I would have no out of pocket cost for test strips, lancets, alcohol swabs. Of course, then I called DMS back to tell them to cancel my order since I was getting my test strips free.

All of a sudden, DMS changed their tune. The lady told me "we are a small company and in reviewing your record, I see that we can probably get you your test strips at no cost". What the heck?! All that and now they are free? I politely declined her offer because I don't trust them any more.

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Permalink Reply by Meda-Kay on April 8, 2012 at 11:26am

SmileandNod...I, like you, have dealt with DMS and Liberty. At this point, I'm getting all my supplies from Liberty, pump, testing and CGM supplies. It is so much easier to get everything at one place.

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Permalink Reply by earthling on March 29, 2012 at 11:19am

Hi. I agree with smileandnod about the squeaky-wheel approach if you stay with CCS. My experience with them was one of rudeness, so I found another company. Solara Medical supplies is ok so far. Definitely quick and responsive. I'm less than a month into it, though so I can't be sure how they'll be long term. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by LadyD on March 29, 2012 at 11:47am

Sorry to hear you are having this trouble. I received my pump through CCS as well, but I got a medtronic pump; however, I don't think that should make a difference. It took about two weeks from the time I decided to get the pump to the time it was delivered. Medtronic and my endo's office moved fairly quickly. I received a call from the medtronic rep the day after the office filed the paperwork. He called again three days later to inform me that I would receive my pump through CCS and that a CCS rep would call me in 3-5 days, of course it took 4 days to receive a call from CCS and the pump was delivered 2 days later.

I would have to agree that if the doctor has signed the paperwork you might need to light a fire under CCS. Someone out there might have better insight into this than I do, but maybe your animas rep could help you since they are trying to gain and keep you as a customer as well.

Best of Luck

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Permalink Reply by Timothy on March 29, 2012 at 12:17pm

I worked through Kaiser Permanente, They have a totally different system and it is more complicated than most. Working with Animas was always difficult and required calling for verify orders even for my regular supply orders. Sometimes orders were cancelled for no reason. Sometimes they were just not filled. Its hard to know where the trouble was in that process. It is difficult to pinpoint because I have a doctor, and insurance co, a durable med supplier, and a pump company.

Two months ago when I was ready for a new pump, Animas never responded to my calls for info.
They offered me a loaner pump because the buttons on my pump were failing. I did all the paperwork but it never showed up. That was direct to Animas too,

Finally I told my insurance company to go with Medtronic because it was taking too long.
Three days later I had my Medtronic pump.

Animas used to be a great company and had great customer service. in the past 2 years it has been awful, I really don't understand why. The pumps the make are good, but the service is not. I had 4 years of no trouble with my pump. It was not until it was almost 6 years old that the buttons wore out.

You might try to tell Animas that you are considering another manufacturer and they will likely contact CCS and get it worked out.

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on March 29, 2012 at 3:54pm

Update, After calling both CCS medical and Animas every day for the past 4 days, CCS called and said the paperwork has been submitted to the insurance company and they should give the prior authorization in the next 14 days at most, the guy was hopeful that it would come much sooner though so hopefully!!!... I'll let you all know.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on March 29, 2012 at 4:07pm

Awesome! That's great!

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on April 4, 2012 at 9:51am

Okay, I am holding my breath right now.... So excited I can barely breath at the moment here... I got a letter in the mail today from my insurance company saying I have been approved for my insulin pump!!!!

At first I didn't believe it, but I called the insurance company and the wonderful lady at customer service said she has no idea what changed between Friday (when they said they needed more information and lab work), and today but it is in fact approved.

So, here I sit waiting VERY VERY impatiently for the medical supply company to call me back so I can find out what is going on and why they haven't shipped it already!

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on April 4, 2012 at 10:16am

HOORAY!! Just goes to show how arbitrary the whole process is, but whatever works!

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on April 4, 2012 at 10:50am

Great news!! Yeah, they do that sometimes. It's odd and I have no idea why they do it, but good news regardless!! If you can, see if they can send you some sample infusion sets to try out (along with whatever your doctor is prescribing). And pin down who your pump trainer is. For me, that was the hardest part - scheduling with the pump trainer.

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on April 4, 2012 at 11:25am

Supposively I have to wait for the actual pump to arrive before I can pin down my trainer... but it shipped today so it should be here FRIDAY!!! I am SOOO excited!

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