The ins and outs of insurance

A Bedtime Story: Insurance Heartache and Stress.

Knowing what the insurance will pay for and what they won’t and when the insurance covers everything.

My lesson the hard way.

Recently my son’s continous glucose monitor (CGM) stopped working. And my descriptions of stopped working is it would not charge, blink or the OK green light. So of course I went about calling our CGM company for the arduous process of replacing the CGM. After a long conversation we decided (the company rep and myself) that it was truly dead. With this fabulous information the next step was to await the doctors new prescription. Obtaing this elusive prescription seemed far reaching. First I had asked for the company to acquire the needed paperwork form the physician and not the diabetic educator, as we had not visited with her recently. However the company decided to go about this in their own way. They proceeded to contact the educator and she would not fill out the paperwork because she had not seen him. Now The educator we have seen in the past is FABULOUS; simply my son really prefers the male doctor. Because of this we then played a waiting game from November to January. And so the story continues.

While we are in waiting questions such as does a CGM make or break a diabetic day? Really, why not just go old school and just test all day long? But for my son it can make or break his day and week and month. His blood sugars tend to be wildly all over the place causing him to test his sugars more than the 8-10 times a day. Also he has recently started in a running club and driving. So having a CGM that will shut off if he cannot detect a low blood sugar is a life saver, literally. Besides saving his fingers from repeated testing. Moreover, he is able to simply look at his pump prior to sitting behind the steering wheel, at sch images ool, or before running. His CGM can make or break his daily management of his diabetes causing us to miss it horribly.

With the passing of months of mourning we have finally heard from the company!YAY! There is no paperwork form the physician. UGH. The holidays are here! I have called the physician’s office, they already have the paperwork done and faxed back; and we finally have the prescription to the company, creating a no out of pocket payment with our insurance. SIGH–calm and relief set begin to take over. Or so we thought! A few weeks pass. Mind you we are in mid-January, and the company calls me and states they just received the fax from the doctors office. Huh, you mean the one that was faxed in December? (You thought this tirade was complete and our family’s stress was finalized.) This then lead to a 2 hour phone conversation with the company. Me stating and restating that I was informed by the doctors office they had confirmation recite from the fax before the new year began. The representative and manager stated their paperwork demonstrate otherwise. What is a family to do!

The End of the Story

The company did not have the paperwork in hand before the end of the year so it is to be billed on 2016 insurance! UGHHH. Lesson learned (The financial lesson). Don’t wait for the company call and harass everyone until its done right! He has his CGM and all is now going smoothly and with lots of basal rate changes, very few lows and a green light indicating all is well with our CGM.

Moral of the story

Know your insurance and the companies you are working with. you can save money in the end and the ability to maintain a full head of hair at the end! Happy New Insurance Year!

The Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes

What Diabetes Apps Do You Use?

Technology is great! It allows us to keep connected with other people in our lives. For example, It allows my teenager to contact me always. So when he is over at a friends or out with school activities he texts me his blood sugar numbers when they are out of range. So my question is what apps for your smart phones do you use for your type 1 diabetic?

Type 1 Available apps

There are so many apps available for use. Some seem perfect for a type 2 diabetic because they help with meals and weight loss. The few type 1 diabetic apps I have reviewed and looked at are ManageBGL, My care Connect, and Go Meals or Calorie King. ManageBGL website talks about real-time Blood sugars (a sitter/child enters it and it gets to the parents), predictive lows or highs, ans so much more. What a wonderful way for parents to help easy an overnight with others. Then there is My care Connect. This one allows information from school, child, parent to communicate back and for as well as with the endocrinologist. I have not had the chance to use either one but have look at both closely.

Then there is the applications that help you carb count:Calorie King, GO meals. We utilize apps and books. Usually just what we can get our hands on fastest. They have allowed my teenager to feel more comfortable counting carbs.

Pros and Cons

Apps help so much and in so many ways depending on which app you decide to use. Apps need good cell service or wi-fi to get the information live. Don’t get me wrong I utilize every thing I possibly can to help me with my sons diabetes management, but there are times a book or a phone call is easier or more reliable. So a mix of technology and old school paper is good.

Knowing when to tell your child or other adult if the app, phone call or consulting a book, like ours “type 1 Diabetes and Babysitting”, will be the fastest or safest method. We can rely on technology until it does not work then we need to rely on paper. Plus there are things that are tangible like having a flow chart right infornt of you to know management. Let me know which do you prefer: paper or a screen?

Type 1 Diabetic Apps

Aside Leave a comment February 26, 2014 Stacey

Type 1 and Babysitting

Video 1 Comment September 12, 2013 Stacey

http://www.momseveryday.com/video?videoid=2674483

Here is our 2 minute video clip about our book! We were so lucky to have been able to go on and discuss Type 1 diabetes and babysitting. It was all very exciting! I am a behind the scenes kind of gal (so slightly nervous) and Dayna appeared so comfortable (at least on the outside!).

We want to thank KKTV and CSHP for setting up this interview.

Check it out. We talk very briefly about the book and how it evolved! Type 1 moms developing this babysitting tool.

Denver JDRF Walk

Leave a comment September 8, 2013 Stacey

Start of the Denver JDRF walk

Well here it is today. Fundraising and meeting tons of new families and people! Getting your name out into the world is hard work! But worth every bit. Things we did note today that I think is important:

1. Hiring any babysitter is scary when your most precious cargo can be seriously hurt! While having a type 1 sitter is easier, simply because the sitter knows the disease, it is not always practical. That is how our book helps! It is designed specifically for your child while helping a non-diabetic understand your child.

2. So many teenagers with type 1 are starting up babysitting! Such a wonderful need! I still think this book is important. Your child is yours and the teenage type 1 kiddo understands the ins and outs, but needs specifics on your very individual special child.

3. Grandparents can utilize this book! I met many today that have taken a grand parenting class but wanted the book for the type 1 in their life.

Dayna at our booth!

We all have our reasons for needing this or not wanting to leave our kids with just anyone. Just anyone can be scary. What if we found someone who is not type 1 but learned how to love and care for our type 1 with ease? Our fear as parents may lessen and life can be a bit more normal!

There are sample pages up on the blog and Amazon lets you look through some of the book. Take a peek.

If you are in the Colorado Front Range we will be at the Colorado Springs Walk at America the Beautiful Park next Saturday and we will be on the local KKTV news September 11 at 9 am. Check us out. If you see us around we do have books on hand for $15.

See everyone next week.