medicare

I can't believe it. Medicare pays for test strips. I just got a
letter from Wal Mart, where I buy my strips, saying I have to fill out
the charts they sent me, showing each time I test. The reason. My
doctor wrote the prescription for testing five times a day and
Medicare says that a type two diabetic should only be testing once a
day. A type one diabetic is allowed to test three times a day and
have the strips payed for. Before medicare I paid for the strips
myself.

The chart does not ask anything about diet or exercise during the day,
which to me makes any information about mere monitor readings
useless.

I resent the intrusion.

It seems to me that whoever is in charge of making these decisions
about number of alloted test strips does not know anything about
diabetes or the necessity for testing. Type two's I suppose are only
supposed to test fasting levels, not post prandials or extra tests to
show what a particular food might be doing. Or for lows if they are
feeling hypo. (I did a test and found my bs at 212. I was stunned.
It stayed high even after exercise (another test) and long into the
day (more tests). I figured out it was due to one lousy date I ate
after lunch. I threw out the rest of the bag.

Am I over reacting or do you think one test a day for type twos and 3
a day for type ones is a good way to insure complications?

Dolores
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How many test strips will Medicare or Insurance allow us?
    ... >>>He said that Medicare is going to start only paying for one test strip ... >>>per day for T2 diabetics and three tests per day for T1 diabetics. ... I was told they will let me buy as many strips as my ... My doctor knows that anytime I am trying a new food I test ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: Question about Medicare and Strips
    ... ultra strips. ... He said medicare only pays for one test a day for type 2 and 3 ... scrip for strips before, so am not familiar with the ins and outs yet. ... test log and submit it when they pick up their refill. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: Diabetes-Jennifer
    ... The good thing about this disease is that you will have time to figure out how your body and diabetes are getting along. ... Precision Xtra meter but because we are pre-diabetic we will probably ... get a very limited amount of strips etc. ... start to exercise and lose some unneeded weight to begin with. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: Test Strips
    ... :>Yes, I have Blue Cross Blue Shield, but my understanding is that they ... :>to bill them for the 2 strips per day and I pay for the remainder. ... You have to pay a copay. ... There's a 20% copay and Medicare ...
    (misc.health.diabetes)
  • Re: Question about Medicare and Strips
    ... I've never had a scrip for strips before, ... I receive 100 test strips per month through Medicare, ... Test strips are considered "durable medical equipment" as far as I ... without regard to whether the individual has Type I or Type II diabetes ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)