It should not cost this much to live a healthy life

Not to get into too much name calling, but  Edgepark, the company that is supposed to work as an interim between Dexcom and my insurance company, is crap. I know I've complained a bit about my current CGM, but my biggest issue with it- even more than the fact that I constantly lose it because it falls out of my pocket every single day- is that my insurance will not cover it because the Dexcom company is out of their network. Fine. I get it. But I don't get it either. And I don't get more than I do get.

Also, why is one of my neighbors using a jackhammer at 9:45 am on a Sunday? Jerk.

I don't get why a three month supply of disposable sensors costs $1400. I get that my insurance company doesn't want to pay that because I don't either. I use one sensor a week, sometimes I can make them last two, usually it's more like ten days. And each one costs about $120, give or take. On a good day my insurance would cover half of it, so every three months we were paying about $700 so I could keep using this thing.

As I've mentioned before I am in the process of getting a new pump that has CGM built in, partly because I don't want to keep walking about like I'm the freakin' Batman with multiple medical devices hanging on my belt, but mostly because I am sick of paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket for supplies. Did I say hundreds? I meant thousands.

 

Because, and this is why I think Edgepark is crap, I was told that my Dex supplies were now going to be $50 instead of $700 dollars. They found a work around and were going to submit my supplies via prescription and everything was going to be hunky-dory. Then I look in my bank account and see that Edgepark has taken the equivalent of a MORTGAGE PAYMENT out of my checking for supplies without even thinking about calling me. This is why they are crap. The customer service at that company is nonexistent. I've called them twice, sent the supplies that I CANCELLED back to them, and still my money is gone. I was told I would be called back by the person in charge of my account, but he appears to have fallen off of the Bifrost Bridge, never to be heard from again unlike some people who just keep coming back.

 

Best god of mischief ever.



 

Needless to say, I am pissed off. The people I have managed to get in touch with at that company explained it thusly: "Oh, your insurance wouldn't process this as a prescription." This is the explanation I've been given for why they took more money out of my account than I would have spent if I'd just bought the stupid supplies from Dexcom myself. It never occurred to anyone at this company to call me and say hey, this is what's going on? How would you like us to proceed?  Now I've got to make more phone calls, and haggle, and yell at people who are just doing their jobs because the company they work for stole money from me.

 

"Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view," said Obi-wan Kenobi. Well this is my point of view.

 

It really begs the question, though....why is this stuff so expensive in the first place? With CGM I am in better control of my diabetes than I have been in years. I am now at a lower risk for complications- things that would likely hospitalize me and cost oodles more than $120 a week for a stupid sensor. So why won't my insurance cover it? I'm talking about a little bit of plastic and a two inch wire about the thickness of a couple human hairs held together with some medical tape. This is what's costing $120 a week. I've been assured by the pump company that I am completely covered for pump supplies and CGM with my insurance since they are in the all important network.

 

I'm not holding my breath.

 

5/28 update: Ashley at Edgepark is a great person. She took one look at my account today and immediately started to refund the money that came out. She took accountability and dealt with the problem and I feel a whole lot better about everything now.