Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by kim on October 30, 2011 at 8:00am

i also live in ontario, and have no coverage at this time. i have tried all the companies, and alot of them will not cover a pre-existing condition, and those that will are soooo expensive. i pay for my test strips out of pocket as well as my insulin and pills
for blood pressure and cholesterol. it is cheaper for me than the monthly bill would be for coverage through manulife, blue cross or any of the others. and as for Trillium, you have to be making less than minimum wage to qualify for that!!!
what i ended up doing is price shopping and puchasing my strips and insulin without a prescription and getting a written receipt for tax purposes.
good luck, and let me know if you find a reasonably priced company!

Permalink Reply by Ana on October 30, 2011 at 1:14pm

Hi Kim, I am also looking into the coverage in Ontario. How much do you pay for your insulin and test strips and where do you buy them? Thanks!

Permalink Reply by kim on October 31, 2011 at 7:14am

i buy my Humalog at Shoppers Drug Mart $35.99, and my test strips at the Loblaws Pharmacy $75.50. i don't use a prescription for these i just get them to give me a written receipt for tax purposes. i am buying strips every 2wks, and insulin about the same, sometimes i can stretch it to 3weeks on the insulin.
i used to have unlimited coverage, when i was working full time. now its coverage through my husband but i maxed out that coverage ($1000/person/yr) we have after about 3mths. so its full price for me. the only break i got on my other presc. is that they are now generic and so have come down so much in price. thank god!!

Permalink Reply by Ana on October 31, 2011 at 4:40pm

Thanks Kim!

Permalink Reply by David G. on October 30, 2011 at 10:23am

I also haven't had any luck trying to find any insurance company to give me any coverage. Get about 300.00 a year from Blue Cross for syringes and strips but that doesn't go far. Finally got the provincial drug plan to give a reduction of a bit for insulin and prescriptions but it might be only one year. Gets reviewed every year. Tried several companies for coverage for sensors for the CGM and no. If I worked for a major corporation that paid large premiums for their employees I probably would be covered.
Felt that with the majority government in Ottawa now would be a good time to make changes. Tried several times to email the MP but the email always gets rejected for whatever reasons. Now would be a good time to change the medical deduction on income tax.

Permalink Reply by nel on October 31, 2011 at 10:06am

http://www.diabetes.ca/documents/get-involved/ON11.pdf
This chart ( Ontario ) clearly shows, that much more Advocacy is needed .
My request here is to become a member of the Canadian Diabetes Association and become involved...the more voices , the more strength in numbers : http://www.diabetes.ca/documents/about-diabetes/HST-Membership-13-S...
For all provinces and territories http://www.diabetes.ca/advocacy/reports-and-information/provincial-...

Permalink Reply by Mr. Type 2 on October 31, 2011 at 6:06pm

I also live in Ontario. A few months ago, I also researched the private insurance plans (Manulife, GWL, SunLife, others) as I am self-employed. Much like the other folks that posted responses, I found the private insurance to be overly expensive and woefully under covered. Similarly, they took into account the diabetes as a prior condition and offered me ridiculously low coverage caps.

For those that are self-employed, I found another option that depending on your medical expenditures may make sense. You can look into having your corporation set up a Health Spending Account. The summary of this plan is that your company funds a health care account and you draw on it for your medical expenses. This allows you to essentially pay for your medical costs with before tax dollars. There are some restrictions and you need to use a service provider to manage your claims. The best one that I came across was Accerta. This of course entails some set up costs and about 15% premium on your medical costs.

For now, I have decided to pay for my medical costs out of pocket.