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Category: Insurance

Endo Appointment Tomorrow, Charlie Kimball Friday

Chris Stocker

I received a phone call today from my endo’s office to confirm my appointment for Friday and I was confused.  I said, there’s no way that I could have scheduled an appointment for that day because Friday is Charlie Kimball’s race down in Homestead – Miami that I am going to so I can’t have that appointment.  She said, well I don’t think that we have any other openings.  I said, you don’t understand, I can’t miss this race, I am going to meet Charlie and be at the race.  So she said she would look and see where she could fit me in and give me a call back.  5 minutes later I get a phone call and somebody had cancelled for tomorrow, so it looks like now I have an appointment for tomorrow.

First thing that I am going to explain to the doc when I get in there is come straight out and admit that it hasn’t been a good month for me.  In fact, a pretty effin’ bad month.  I had a lot of highs, some major lows and just been all over the map with my sugars.  However, I did manage to find more time for exercise and lost some weight.  I put a little on over the last week, but I had lost enough before that to still be down some weight since the last visit.  The last thing is to explain that I haven’t worn the sensor at all for multiple reasons.  For one, it started to fall out all the time.  Secondly, the ones that I had expired way back in May and never realized it because I just kept thinking, well I still have 2 full boxes.  I will probably still attempt to use them though.

I must also remember to get new prescriptions from her however because I am almost out of insulin.  That also reminds me that I better re-order very soon because there is always an issue, especially when I need a new prescription sent in.  The first time that I had to send in a new prescription, it took me almost 2 weeks to get my insulin delivered, not good customer service in my eyes.

Today’s post a little short because I just got back from the gym and I am tired and I am trying to cook dinner and do laundry and have a lot of work to catch up on tonight.  So you all have a great day and I will have a better post tomorrow.  Hopefully something positive from the endo appointment.

Where Would You Be Without Diabetes Education?

Chris Stocker 3 Comments

So where would you be without diabetes education?  I can tell you where I’d be, and it wouldn’t be here, that’s for sure.  I am willing to bet that majority of you would say the same thing.  To me, diabetes education is the most important part of diabetes in general.  You can’t accept it if you don’t understand it.  You can’t manage it if you don’t know about it.  But there is always something more to learn about diabetes.  As soon as you think you know all there is, something else pops up.

I recently did a post on the old blog starting to get into this subject of diabetes education and that all the programs that are closing down.  Just locally here in south Florida where I live in the last year I have personally seen the JFK Medical Center diabetes center go down, along with the North Broward Hospital diabetes program go down.

I use Google Alerts for the keyword “diabetes education program” and it seems that almost everyday I receive another alert with a local newspaper writing about another program closing down.  I will admit that there are also some that talk about new ones starting up, which is amazing.  But when you read into it, the program is opening with minimal funds and sharing an office with the whole hopsital education system.  Now as someone with diabetes, I know how important it is for diabetes education programs.  I understand that this will lower my chances of any complications that may come in the future.

Now why do hospitals not think this way?  Oh I know, because this doesn’t allow their wallets to get fat.  It is very clear, there is no money in diabetes education, none!  The re-imbursment rates are minimal.  I see all the time in these articles that a reason the hospital will close the center down is because the amount of people coming to certain diabetes education classes or programs are decreasing.  The reasons they may be decreasing are because less people have health insurance, can’t afford to go to the classes, gas prices are getting better now, but during the gas spike of recent times people just couldn’t afford to drive to their local hospital to get the education they need.

So how do we solve this issue?  How do we get the education that we all need to the people that need it most.  One way I am personally trying to resolve this is to raise funds for diabetes education.  Raising funds in these times is a difficult thing to do.  There is a million charities out there and everybody thinks that theirs is the best and their cause is better.  Especially when you have a discussion about the ADA and JDRF, (tomorrow’s post).  Anyway, time to get back on subject.

Please let me know of any projects that you may be working on or that you have heard of or any local events.  I would love to help out and be as active as possible in fighting for the education that we need.  I continue to fight and do what I can to help find a cure, but until that day comes the best I can do is to help people get the same education that I received and still receive today that has helped me stay healthy.

I want everybody to be able to enjoy their lives and share their own stories of living a life of a diabetic.

Have a great night ya’ll

Insurance Companies, Did You Just Cringe?

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

Insurance companies.  How many of you just cringed and made a sour face as soon as you read those first two words?  I know I do.  I don’t know what it is about that set of words. Even when I was younger I didn’t like those words, and I didn’t even know anything about them.  As my uncle always called them, “in-case-stuff-happens companies” as in they are useless unless stuff happens.  Insurance companies brought a whole new level of hatred into my life when I became diabetic.

I didn’t really deal with them the first 2 years of my diabetes because my mom handled just about everything.  I just simply went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions and went to the doctors office and handed them a card.  Once I moved to Florida to finish college, that’s when I had to deal with things myself.

I can remember the first bad experience that I had with them.  I had only 1 vial of insulin left and I pulled it out of the fridge to get it to room temperature about a day or 2 before I would actually use it.  As I was taking it out of the nice little box it comes in, it slipped out of my hands and smashed on the floor and insulin went everywhere.  Not only did I have an insulin smelling floor, (disgusting!) I was now going to be out of insulin within the next few days.

I went over to the student pharmacy the next day and pharmacist said ok it should be here tomorrow.  I get a phone call the next morning to come in and see him.  Guess what?  Insulin is there but the insurance company isn’t covering it so it is going to cost me approximately $500 with the student discount.  Reason for why they won’t cover it you may ask?  Because I have a 90 day supply and we are only on day number 78.  I still remember the day of my 90 day prescription I was on because it made me so pissed.  After I explained to the rep that I will be dead before day 90 comes around, she transferred me to multiple people.  Finally, on a one time basis, they will cover the insulin.

Now, fast forward 3 1/2 years to last week.  I received a new pump and CGM from my diabetes supplier earlier in the year. They are out of network with my insurance so no big deal, that will eat up my out of network deductible.  Well I keep receiving statements in the mail showing that none of my deductible has been met.  This doesn’t make sense to me.  Also, every month I receive a letter telling me that I haven’t sent in the additional information that was requested of me and I must send in something in writing or my claim will be denied.

Huh?  What?  I never received anything in the mail stating I had to send in anything!  Every single time I call they tell me that I just have to submit my appeal in writing.  Well, what the hell am I appealing?  I haven’t received anything telling me I need to appeal!  Long story short they are requesting months of blood sugar logs, CGM reports, A1C reports, etc.  If they just would have told me that months ago I could have had it to them right away.  Hopefully I can get this all straightened out and taken care of.  I don’t need the added stress.

Just another reason I can’t stand insurance companies!

And just another day in the life of a diabetic