Category Archives: cost

My Ever-Expanding Omnipod Bill

27 Friday Jan 2012

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Just got my latest bill from Omnipod and it’s up to $1500. Yikes. They have me set up on a payment plan of $50 a month so if I don’t order any more pods, it’ll take me more than 2 years to pay it off. Of course I will be ordering more pods, in fact I’ve only got one box of pods left so that means in about a month I’ll need to order more.

I shouldn’t be writing about money right before I go to bed.

How is this fair? I’ve written about the cost of living with diabetes plenty of times before, but the bills never fail to surprise and overwhelm me. Nothing changes. Sometimes I’ll get some extra money, after taxes or on my birthday, and I can pay $100 instead of my measly $50, and I’ll feel like I’m making a stab at the mountain of medical supply debt, but then it’s time to order supplies again and I’m right back where I started. 

My endocrinologist used to call MDI (multiple daily injections) the “poor man’s pump,” and I would laugh because I was using MDI and doing just fine. But I’ve been using a pump for 3 years now and I don’t want to go back. The pump makes my life easier and helps me manage my blood sugars. So why does it have to cost so much?

I’m not alone…read a few comments from others who are struggling like me: (Diabetes Health article)

“My son needs a pump but my insurance company will not cover it. Where can I find help to get a pump? I can’t spend 5 to 6 thousand dollars out of pocket for a pump.”

“My husband is a pump candidate and wanted to use the Omnipod, but Medicare said it would not cover it. When I read the Medicare regulation there was nothing said about a specific brand only that it would cover pumps. I’ve been on hold to Medicare several times but haven’t gotten through to get an answer. Any help here?”

“Who can use an insulin pump, which is unaffordable though it is a boon to diabetes? We should think of something which dosen’t eat our pockets. Please bring something in the market which is affordable. I am a diabetic, take injections, and I want to get rid of these tensions.”

How can any of us put a price tag on the quality of our life? We shouldn’t have to.

Disappointed in Target…

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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I’m sad to report that I went to Target today to pick up (among countless other items like draino, peanut butter and batteries), a box of up&up test strips and found that the price had gone up by $20! I was stunned. I’ve written before about how great it was that I could go to Target during those weeks in between prescription refills and get a cheap box of quality strips, and now those days are gone! Why the change? What’s happened? Can’t a girl with diabetes on a budget get a break??

The Cost of Diabetes (making sense of it all)

08 Thursday Dec 2011

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The pile of medical bills next to my computer is out of control, and it’s that time of year again, to re-sign for our health insurance. My husband has heard through the rumor mill that his employers are raising the cost of our insurance, which for a family of five, could cost us more than $600 a month. Yikes. Between the pediatrician, the eye doctor, the dermatologist, the endocrinologist and the dentist, I am constantly struggling to keep up with what we owe and to who. So….I’m hoping that Simplee is going to make my life easier. I’ll keep you updated….

New York Times on Type 1 Diabetes

31 Monday Oct 2011

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It’s nice to read an article that highlights the outrageous and often overwhelming cost of living with diabetes. While much in the article was very basic and really outdated information, I am glad that the NY Times is bringing attention to the fact that families living with diabetes have to make a lot of sacrifies to pay all of our medical bills and buy diabetes supplies.

Perhaps most challenging has been the financial stress on their parents.

Carrie and Ian Gustin have two other children and medical insurance through Mr. Gustin’s job. Still, there’s the monthly premium for a family of six and high deductibles ($3,000 for each or $6,000 for the family), plus substantial co-pays for the insulin pumps both children use, pump supplies, test strips for blood sugar and, of course, a steady insulin supply.

To cover the costs, Mrs. Gustin said, “we have to give up other choices in life. We don’t go to the zoo, the museums, the aquarium. We rarely go out to eat, we don’t order delivery foods, we only go to the dollar movie theater, and our vacations are usually to visit family. My kids hear ‘no’ quite often.” Skiing remains the main family entertainment, with costs controlled by handing down equipment. Along with trying to lead as normal a life as possible, the goal for the Gustin children and all others with Type 1 diabetes is to maintain blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible to prevent, or at least delay, potentially life-threatening complications.

Read more at: More Ways to Cope with Type 1 Diabetes.