CGM Anti-Denial Campaign Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

#	Name	Comments
1	gina	REQUEST FOR CGMS: Denied by Insurance The night before Christmas Eve my fiancé (husband now) and I were baking for a family party the following night. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone I decided I would go upstairs and start wrapping presents while he finished up in the kitchen. “Let me know when the cupcakes are done because I want one.” That was the last thing I remember before being shaken out of a nearly unconscious state and dropped into a world of panic. “Gina, you gotta taste these!” I wanted to answer but I didn’t have the strength to reply. “Gina?” What’s wrong I thought? I can’t raise my head, my arms, MY VOICE. My body felt as though a ton of bricks were on top of me. My stomach ached, my head was pounding and I couldn’t get up. I didn’t know. Earlier that day Mike and I had gone out shopping for xmas presents and lunch. I suddenly got really tired in Target and began walking so slow that Mike jokingly asked me to stop dragging my ass. “I’m just really tired all of a sudden. Get what you need so we can leave.” Things started getting worse and my stomach began cramping up. I ignored it figuring it was just my lunch that wasn’t agreeing with me. I didn’t know. He got what he needed and we left for home. I didn’t know. At home we started baking and I went upstairs to begin wrapping but needed to lie down for a minute. At this point I began feeling like I needed to vomit. When I didn’t answer Mike he came into the room shook me awake and helped me up. “Baby, I think you should check your blood.” I did, and the meter read 500. I bolused in a correction and proceeded to the bathroom to vomit. After 15 minutes, I checked again to see if my blood was going down. This time the meter just said HI. I had never once seen that before. PANIC TIME. I took out my infusion set because something was obviously wrong. When I pulled it out there was a huge kink in the wiring under my skin. I had not been getting insulin at all for a couple of hours. I ended up in the emergency room that night. I didn’t know. I didn’t know that my blood sugars were rising at an extremely fast rate, even after checking my blood twice during that time. A continuous glucose monitor would have prevented me from going into DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) that day and having to make that trip to the emergency room. A visit that costs insurance companies much more money than it would for covering a monitor and its supplies. (do you see that MR. INSURANCE COMPANY, YOU SAVE) A CGMS would have helped me when my blood sugar was so low in bed one day that I couldn’t yell for my mom to help me get some juice. Or when I almost passed out the gym during an exercise class. Insurance companies claim that CGMS are not medically necessary and that they are investigational. Whatever that means. They can give a crap about any of us. They don’t even understand what we go through day to day. Bottom line: Insurance companies are cheap. I didn’t know there was a price on our lives? We the people in the diabetes community want the choice to live long healthy lives.
2	Landileigh Nelson	one small voice hoping to be heard.
3	Jon Schlaman	I fully support this campaign and I believe that CGMS devices are a life-saving necessity for anybody who uses insulin or other medications that can lower blood sugar.
4	Bernard Farrell	I have had type 1 diabetes for 35 years. For most of that time I was unable to reach any type of stable blood sugar control. I've had glucagon injections many times and many ambulance trips to the emergency room. Since starting on a CGM my control has changed dramatically. I may even get an A1C below 7.0% for the first time EVER. However I do not have insurance coverage for the CGMS or supplies and this makes it hard for my family to afford to pay for this tight control and better qualify of life each month. I believe that the insurance companies AND my family and I will benefit from improved control. My risk of complications will be significantly reduced. I urge coverage for CGMS by all insurance companies so I can maintain this tight control and others will also have this option.
5	John Hanson	I'm a long termer but have only been pumping for two years. I have managed ok without a cgms. I've done extensive basal testing on all parts of my day. I've even pulled all-nighters. I'm down to a 6.0 A1C. Things would be so much easier with a good CGMS. I could much more easily validate my basals, especially overnight ones. matching basal rates to need is the foundation of good control. A CGMS would also help me fight hypos, especially while sleeping. I've been 911'd nine times so far. I no longer have any hypo-awareness. While pumping has eliminated most of these bad hypos, I still bottom out once in awhile. I don't know how much longer dear wife can handle me. A CGMS would help us both sleep better.
6	Anonymous
7	Denise Bevard	It should not be a fight to get this diabetes mangement tool. It minimally can offer quality of life improvements, maximally, it can save a person with diabetes life. The insurance co wins, as the annual cost is less than one ER visit, and reduction in future complication cost. More users will also drive down the price and drive further improvements faster.
8	Shaun Viechweg
9	Anonymous	The CGMS is a vital tool to prevent otherwise unpredictable hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic events for persons with diabetes who use insulin or other medications which cause hypoglycemia. The time has come for you to put all diabetes patients' health and well being above your bottom line dollar. In the long run, you as insurance companies will save more money by preventing complications, hospital visits, etc. I urge you to pay attention to the need to provide this important tool to all patients willing to use it. Thank you for listening.
10	Cindy
11	K. Hicks
12	Sharon Waterstradt
13	Lanae Minten	My daughter was denied CGMS coverage by Coventry Health Care Insurance of Iowa.
14	Audrey Fendley
15	Jason Meadows	These devices can save lives as well as save the insurance industry Billions of dollars per year if more people were allowed top have them. Just think, more constant monitoring means better control, which equates to fewer long term complications, fewer test strips, fewer cases of neuropathy, retinopathy, etc, etc, ad infinitum. Not to mention that people would be living longer lives.
16	Elizabeth Mills	I have been using the Dexcom 7 since Feb. of this year. My sugar levels can change quickly and always have for the 44 years that I have been T1. I am hypo unaware and the CGM has saved me from many serious lows. It's past time that Medicare and insurance companies start paying.
17	Anonymous
18	Sonia Chritton	The research proves that these will save lives. It is wrong to deny coverage. Thank you, Sonia Chritton President, Children With Diabetes Foundation
19	Hank L	The cost to the insurance companies will be reduced when there is better control. The CGMS devices allow that to happen.
20	Emily Berthold	healthcare is a right not a privilege!
21	Erica Iacono
22	Jill Rappoport
23	Anonymous	I am trying to have a tight control to minimize the effects ofdiabetes, and in that process sometimes the numbers tend to get quite low. Even my CDEs are frustrated, because my insurance company does not go along to approve CGMS. The nurse from the insurance company who calls me regularly to see how I am doing is asking me contact the insurance company to have CGMS approved. It is normal for me to see 4-5 numbers below 50 in every bi-weekly reports from the pump. It is about time that all insurance companies stop treating CGMS as experimental. One trip to ER will end up costing them a lot more than the value of this device.
24	Dannielle Cole	Medicare user from Virginia. I have been a type 1 diabetic in poor control for eighteen years. it was only recently that i began using an insulin pump, which has begun to increase my control. i have hopes of starting a family in the next two years, but without every tool available at my disposal, inculding a CMGS, this may not be possible. with my increased control come more bouts of hypoglicemia and and less of a sensitiviy toward it. i do not wish to be pregnant and put my child and myself at risk of harm because i was denied a CGMS. i realize that this and other diabetic tools are not cheap, but in the long run it is a lot cheaper to shell out the money for these things than pay for countless hospitalizations and treatments for diabetic complications. if you want to look at the bottom line, look at it with that in mind. and please realize that we are people whose lives are worth far more than the expenses that would be accrued by allowing us the tools we need to stay alive and stay healthy.
25	gayle kirma
26	Robin Seymour	I am the mother of a 8 yr old type 1 diabetic. He does not feel his lows. We need CGMS to help in my son's control of his blood sugars. We at this time cannot afford to have this technology. That is a shame. Please change that. Thank You!
27	Lori McAuley	I have paid over $600 dollars for the initial fee for my CGMS. This tool has the potential to lower my ever increasing A1C and prevent serious hypoglycemia. Unfortunately I can no longer use this device due to the expense, potentially exposing me to many complications that could otherwise be avoided. I live in Alabama and am covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.
28	Windy Cobourne	On December 25th, 2007 I almost died. On December 29th 2007, I almost died again. My blood sugar plummeted into the low 20's during my nighttime sleep. On Christmas I woke up screaming incomprehensible words and flailing my arms and legs, waking my husband. On December 29th, my husband's birthday, he mysteriously awoke and found me passed out on the floor next to our bed, minutes from death. (Happy Birthday sweet heart) There is a technology available that can prevent this from ever happening to me again. It is a frustrating thing knowing there is a technology available to help free me from the daily worry of going into a coma, or passing out because of my hypoglycemia unawareness while I am home alone taking care of my children. Or dying in my sleep because my blood sugar gets to low. Yet this technology is being denied by major insurance companies in many cases, stating that it is not "medically necessary." It brings me to the point of tears sometimes. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for my insurance company to come through for me and approve my Dexcom 7 CGMS, so I can be freed from this worry. Yet they continue to drag their heels. I haven't gotten a denial yet, but it has been pending since January. JANUARY! Ridiculous. I encourage diabetics to raise their voices and post this video by Manny Hernandez of Tudiabetes.com on your blogs! Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems are approved by the FDA and are some of the best diabetic technology available to help control blood glucose levels. The JDRF is working on completing this technology by researching ways to create a closed loop system as a sort of external pancreas. We are making strides. I am tired of worrying about if I will be around to watch my children complete their major milestones. Graduating college, getting married, rocking my grandchildren for the first time, retiring and traveling with my husband. I want to live to see these years.
29	Lindsey	Last year, I received my CGMS. Luckily, my insurance covers it with only a small copay for me. It has greatly helped me adjust to using an insulin pump and managing diabetes. My A1c is down by .7 and continuing further. I know that the help the CGMS has given me is half of the reason.
30	Tina Pafero
31	Kelly Close	GREAT!
32	Monica Coan	The cgms will become the standard of diabetes care.
33	Anonymous	cgm saves lives.
34	Lee Ann Thill	I live in New Jersey, and my health insurance company is Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ. They are now denying coverage of CGMS sensors after initially authorizing coverage. In August 2007, I started using the CGMS after they approved it. They paid for sensors in 2007. However since then they have refused to pay for sensors I've purchased in 2008, and are now claiming CGMS is "investigational" (despite FDA approval in spring 2006) therefore not eligible for further coverage despite the fact that in the 10 months I've been using it, I have been able to use the data it provides to better control my blood sugars, significantly reducing instances of extreme high blood glucose (>250mg/dl), and reducing the incidence and severity of hypoglycemia. I never would have been able to collect the data that's allowed me to better control my blood sugars by solely using conventional home blood glucose monitoring. I have come to rely on this data to make decisions throughout the day that impact my diabetes management, and now Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield has decided it's not worth covering even though it’s tremendously benefited to my health.
35	Iris Weismer
36	Lesli Bass	While I have never had a formal denial for the CGMS system, I plan on one day using the technology during pregnancy. I would hope that my insurance company would realize the value of such technology, but after struggling to get test strips, I know a fight will also be in future. I feel it is important to stand up now, so that when I am ready to venture into the world of continuous glucose monitoring, I might avoid the fight. The benefit of trending and maintaining tight control will save more lives and money than the cost of coverage!
37	Kathy Sego	My son has had diabetes for 4 years. Every day is a struggle and our CGM has saved him.....until a cure.
38	deborah maier	I have an 8 year old daughter who is STILL not under controll, so far we cant get the CGMS because of insurance..this would be a lifesaver!!!!
39	Cody Curtis	I live in Idaho and am insured by Blue Cross. After a year on the Dexcom CGMS, I have seen my A1C levels drop to 7.0, my gastroparesis subside, and have caught numerous low blood sugars during the night. As prices continue to rise I've had to reduce my use of the CGMS and have seen a decrease in the sability of my glucose levels.
40	Anonymous
41	Anonymous	If a diabetic needs a CGMS, he or she should have it covered under insurance. Period. Insurance companies are in the business of paying for health care, not determining what kind of health care people need. Paying for a CGMS now will cost less money in the long run. A well-controlled diabetic has much less chance of needing major health care procedures like dialysis.
42	Daran Lemon	better health coverage for all!
43	Stacey Konowitz
44	Rick Lanier
45	Rachael Aron	Continuous Glucose Monitors are one thing that can durastically change a type 1 diabetics life. We have to go through and endure so much, and the technology that can help us have better health and futures is there. The insurance companys just won't let us have it, which is horrible. Knowing what is out there and knowing that it can help save my life, but also knowing that I cannot afford to get it because my insurance company wont pay for it is horrible!
46	Seonaid McNabb
47	Michelle Tower
48	John F Page	My CGMS has lowered the cost of my diabetes health care! I'm healthier and live a better quality of life because of it.
49	Mike Guillebeau
50	Anonymous