Comment

Comment by Dave on December 13, 2012 at 10:13am

Estel,

I'm having the same problem having to deal with 2 vendors under Medicare. Until recently, Liberty Medical has been supplying me with everything (test strips, pump supplies, and insulin for the pump under Part B - look at page 41 in the 2012 Medicare and You book), but the people there have no idea on how to deal with Medicare. After using them for a year, they have managed to get less than 50% of my orders paid for by Medicare.

I'm currently looking to switch suppliers. I haven't been able to find a single supplier who would be willing to provide me with all of my supplies, the hardest thing being to get Insulin under Medicare Part B. Animas suggested that I use Neighborhood Diabetes (888-978-6733) for pump supplies. They are willing to handle pump supplies and test strips, but not Insulin for the pump. I discovered that Walgreens will supply Insulin under Part B. The trouble is that many Walgreens pharmacists are unaware of this. You need to tell them to call 217-554-8766, Walgreen Medicare Billing number. They will direct the pharmacist on what needs to be done.

I hope that this helps.

Comment by George Davis on December 13, 2012 at 4:16am

Estel, CCS notified me that they will no longer supply my Freestyle Lite strips, so I changed suppliers. My new supplier, http://www.diabetesspecialty.com supplies everything. By the way, I just got a letter from Dexcom stating that they have terminated their relationship with CCS, so I think CCS is on the way out.

Comment by Florian Menninger Jr on December 12, 2012 at 6:42pm

Hello Estel, I have a Blue Cross Advantage plan in MA and I use Express Scripts mail order pharmacy for my 3 month supply of Novolog insulin for my pump, test strips for my Ping, and lancets. They also supply me with my blood pressure meds and hypothyroid meds I've had no problems getting the supplies that I need and use.
I get my 3 month supply of,INSETS and cartridges directly from Animas.

Comment by Estel Hines on December 12, 2012 at 12:32pm

last month CCS notified me that they will no longer be able to supply the test strips for my One Touch Ping meter, but Animas did refer me to EdgePark (in state, Indiana) who can supply the strips, they however can not supply the remainder of the Supplies such as Inset, cartridges, etc.
This makes two vendors for me to deal with, and being over 70, I sure would like to have a single source for my supplies to avoid getting confused. are others having this supply problem? Does this mean that the One Touch Ping meter is on the way out?

Comment by DianaS on December 1, 2012 at 11:17pm

I have always had to go in for site infections because I've needed antibiotics and once it had to opened up too. I haven't had an infection for a few years now.

Comment by Kendyl on December 1, 2012 at 10:39pm

hey everyone tonight I looked at an old site on my hip and it was all red with pus so I think I have an infected site. I have never had an infected site in the 12 years I have had diabetes so I really don't know what to do or expect. I have cleaned it REALLLLLY well and now freaked myself out hat it is staph or something more serious. Should I go to the Dr? or do you think cleaning it every day should do the trick? What do you guys normally do for an infected site?

Comment by E-J Ohler on November 19, 2012 at 10:32am

Roark it is getting harder and harder to get supplies. I now have to go thru a local (in State) supplier and can't order direct from Animas anylonger. Direct was nice as I automatically got my 90 day supply every 3 months without skipping a beat. Now I have to call a med supply house as that is what Blue Cross Blue Shield wants and nothing is automatically, probably because I won't have diabetes anymore next month LOL

Comment by Roark on November 19, 2012 at 8:40am

@All: I figured I should share this. It may have an impact on others who order their supplies in a 3-month batch.

I just tried to place an order with Animas for my next 3 months worth for supplies for the PING (reservoirs, infusion sets, test strips and a spare batt cap and cart retainer nut. Animas advises they are having supply "issues" getting the reservoirs. Due to this "issue" they will only ship 1 month worth of these at a time. Unfortunately, depending on your insurance, this triggers a limit to a 1 month supply of everything ELSE too. (But in fairness they assure me that in a few weeks they will send-out the remaining 2 months of supplies automatically).

The customer rep I was talking to (Christine) was very pro but she was also being VERY circumspect as to the cause of the bottleneck when I pressed her. When I flatly asked the cause of the "issue" she indicated "I don't have that information".

According to the box these reservoirs are made in France by MediMark Europe for J&J, so I suppose its possible the recent issues in the Eurozone are driving this. Dunno, but now you know as much as I do. YMMV. :)

Comment by olu Oog on October 26, 2012 at 2:17pm

yes the "regular" Alkaline batteries have short life of 1 week or at most 2

Comment by E-J Ohler on October 26, 2012 at 5:07am

Marlene normally you can get through the workday with one bar but as Leotha said change it soon. Also make sure you use the advanced Lithium batteries as "regular" AA batteries will only last you a couple of weeks. The Lithium battery should give you a minimum of 4-6 weeks of pumping.

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