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    • 4 hours, 45 minutes ago
      NANCY NECIA likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      My doctor switched me without telling me from Humalog to novolog and told me it was due to insurance. I’m on Medicare and I never saw anything that said that was necessary. They call me periodically to see how I’m doing and I told them I didn’t appreciate being switched without being told. I thought initially it was a mistake when I picked it up at the pharmacy but they said that’s what the doctor ordered. Then the next visit, he told me all my issues with insulin switching and preauthorization holdups was my fault basically because he says “I have the wrong insurance”. Like I’m going to NOT use Medicare. My opinion? I think I have the wrong doctor, but it’s a hassle to switch.
    • 4 hours, 46 minutes ago
      NANCY NECIA likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      Not this year, but in 2026, I need to switch from Humalog to Novolog.
    • 7 hours, 16 minutes ago
      mojoseje likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      NEVER accerptable or appropriate. Nobody's healthcare should ever be determined by a third party's profit margin(s) to determine what we are forced to take.
    • 9 hours, 19 minutes ago
      Phyllis Biederman likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      My doctor switched me without telling me from Humalog to novolog and told me it was due to insurance. I’m on Medicare and I never saw anything that said that was necessary. They call me periodically to see how I’m doing and I told them I didn’t appreciate being switched without being told. I thought initially it was a mistake when I picked it up at the pharmacy but they said that’s what the doctor ordered. Then the next visit, he told me all my issues with insulin switching and preauthorization holdups was my fault basically because he says “I have the wrong insurance”. Like I’m going to NOT use Medicare. My opinion? I think I have the wrong doctor, but it’s a hassle to switch.
    • 9 hours, 37 minutes ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Insurance won't cover and it was several hundred dollars.
    • 9 hours, 37 minutes ago
      Marty likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      Had to, no. But Medicare is adding coverage for FIASP in '26 so it will be "bye, bye, bye, bye, bye" to Lyumjev!
    • 10 hours, 29 minutes ago
      Gerald Oefelein likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      Had to, no. But Medicare is adding coverage for FIASP in '26 so it will be "bye, bye, bye, bye, bye" to Lyumjev!
    • 10 hours, 44 minutes ago
      Scott Rudolph likes your comment at
      Have you had to switch diabetes medications in the past year due to health insurance changes?
      Had to, no. But Medicare is adding coverage for FIASP in '26 so it will be "bye, bye, bye, bye, bye" to Lyumjev!
    • 1 day, 7 hours ago
      eherban1 likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      I use InPen and it's great. Except they aren't keeping up with iOS so you now have to unlock your phone and open the app to check IOB instead of simply looking at the home screen. You can tell when app developers aren't users, otherwise they'd know how much of a pain this is when you check 50 times a day
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Insurance won't cover and it was several hundred dollars.
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No. During the past century I threw out many glucagon doses about 5 years after each had expired - having never used a single glucagon dose.. This century, two dose kits were disposed of and never used. At this point, in my opinion, with modern tools for accurately monitoring one's body glucose levels, AND common awareness of how one is feeling, severe low BGL can be easily avoided thus not needing "emergency' glucagon. NOTE WELL!!! what I wrote in the last sentence, does NOT apply to the very young, and some newly diagnosed who have not yet mastered insulin dosing and who have not yet been accustomed to recognizing low or quickly dropping BGL.
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      I do because it Costc me over $300 to replace it. Too expensive.
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      John Barbuto likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Medicare has added FIASP for 2026! Besides the great news of being able to use this once again, it is one of the few fast acting insulins that works with the inPen. I am considering doing that in the new year
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      John Barbuto likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Been using fiasp for 2 years (in the UK) and it's significantly better than novorapid. Would highly recommend to everyone, especially if you find your insulin a bit slow to act.
    • 1 day, 9 hours ago
      Lozzy E likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Medicare has added FIASP for 2026! Besides the great news of being able to use this once again, it is one of the few fast acting insulins that works with the inPen. I am considering doing that in the new year
    • 1 day, 13 hours ago
      Ahh Life likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      The last Glucagon prescription that I purchased was 15 years ago. Now it's way too expensive because my insurance doesn't cover it. They just want us to either die or use ambulance service to use or send us to ER. Pretty stupid to me. I've had T1D for 52 years and never needed it really. Only 3 times during early morning hypos in 2015-16 I needed rescue to wake me.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      My experience over the past 65 years is that a sugary drink and patience will bring me out of a low satisfactorily. If I’m unconscious, as has happened four or five times over that period, the EMTs know what to do.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No I haven't a glucagon in yeans. Reason being:, every time I had a prescription, the glucaagon was never used and expired.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No. During the past century I threw out many glucagon doses about 5 years after each had expired - having never used a single glucagon dose.. This century, two dose kits were disposed of and never used. At this point, in my opinion, with modern tools for accurately monitoring one's body glucose levels, AND common awareness of how one is feeling, severe low BGL can be easily avoided thus not needing "emergency' glucagon. NOTE WELL!!! what I wrote in the last sentence, does NOT apply to the very young, and some newly diagnosed who have not yet mastered insulin dosing and who have not yet been accustomed to recognizing low or quickly dropping BGL.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      I do because it Costc me over $300 to replace it. Too expensive.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Insurance won't cover and it was several hundred dollars.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No,insurance won't cover it. T1D for 45+ years and haven't had a situation where I needed it - so far so good
    • 1 day, 21 hours ago
      Vicki Breckenridge likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
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    If you use an insulin pump, do you order your pump supplies through a durable medical equipment supplier?

    Home > LC Polls > If you use an insulin pump, do you order your pump supplies through a durable medical equipment supplier?
    Previous

    If you have been hospitalized for a reason unrelated to T1D, how satisfied were you with the hospital’s protocols for managing your blood glucose and insulin levels during your most recent hospital stay? Please share more about your experiences in the comments.

    Next

    Health care providers may prescribe type 2 diabetes medications that might be helpful for a person’s concern or problem with T1D – commonly called ‘off-label use’. Does your provider currently prescribe you any type 2 diabetes medications ‘off-label’? Select all that apply.

    Sarah Howard

    Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.

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    37 Comments

    1. Sparklee

      I order direct from Tandem.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    2. Lawrence S.

      Yes, Edgepark. They are covered by my primary insurance, Medicare, and my secondary insurance, Empire New York State United Health Care insurance programs.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Lawrence S.

        All of my durable medical equipment is paid in full by my insurance companies.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
      2. Lawrence S.

        I use Tandem X2 pump with Control IQ, and Dexcom G6 sensors and transmitters.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    3. Lawrence S.

      All of my durable medical equipment is paid in full by my insurance companies.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    4. Steve McGuinn

      I order through pharmacy. I use the Omnipod 5 system and the DASH system previously. Using the pharmacy has saved me quite a bit of money and is much easier to facilitate an order.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    5. Richard Vaughn

      I have always received my pump supplies from Medtronic.

      2
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    6. GLORIA MILLER

      I wish I could order mine through DME but Omnipod 5 is by prescription only costing me $500 per year in expenses. When it was under DME I paid nothing.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Kathryn Keller

        Same for my daughter, we just switched to the dash where before was paying nothing and now $40 a month cuz its considered a prescription and not dme

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
      2. Lyn McQuaid

        I was considering switching from Tandem to Omnipod but changed my mind quickly when I learned it was a considered a prescription (and would cost me money out of pocket) and not DME (which is covered by my insurance).

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    7. Mark Schweim

      My Insulin Pump infusion sets are almost the ONLY things covered by my Pharmacy Benefits when ordered through CVS/Caremark mail order pharmacy, but despite their website giving me prices and my having obtained my infusion sets through them for nearly two years, if I call CVS/Caremark Pharmacy, their phone staff will absolutely insist that they can neither obtain or sell any Insulin Pump supplies, yet they DO stock and provide my Tandem Autosoft XC infusion sets with a $70 copay for 90-day supply.

      I had to select “OTHER” since I can get my Insulin Pump infusion sets through my Pharmacy Benefits from CVS/Caremark, but I need to order my pump cartridges directly from Tandem through my DME benefits.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    8. Jneticdiabetic

      I order directly from Tandem online.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    9. Lynn Smith

      Beginning this year, my Omnipod supplies are available through my pharmacy benefits. CVS Caremark supplies them. I order from a DME provider for my Dexcom supplies.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    10. Anne Blayney

      We don’t call them Durable Medical Equipment suppliers in Canada, so I don’t really know how to answer the question. I have to order mine through Diabetes Express, a specialty pharmacy that acts as Tandem’s distributor in Canada.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    11. TomH

      I get my Dexcom G6 that way currently, but I order my pumps and insulin through a military pharmacy (I retired and got dx’d afterwards). If/when I switch to G7 I may see if I can get them thru the pharmacy as well.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    12. Rosalind Kopfstein

      My local specialist pharmacy supplies me with my DME

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    13. Carole Ludwig

      When I was diagnosed with T1D 5 years ago my Endo suggested using SOLARA Medical Supplies. In the first year the service was up and down but then they got their act together and now they are very efficiently about sending supplies. I get Tandem pump supplies and also Dexcom sensor supplies from them. I am on Medicare. I buy my test strips wherever the price is good. Lately eBay has been my go to.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    14. Bonnie Lundblom

      Yes, CCS is my DME supplier.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    15. John McHenery

      I order through a national Scottish ordering system which then orders the supplies from the manufacturer.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    16. Bob Durstenfeld

      Not by choice. TANDEM no longer ships direct for supplies. My current supplier is much better than the last one.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    17. Denise Carter

      I use Byram. So far no problems!

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Robert Brooks

        Mostly no problems. There have been screw-ups (shipment of cartridges but no insertion sets) and delays (failure to realize 3 months had passed since previous pump supply order, shipment of a Dexcom transmitter 4 days after previous one stopped working).

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
      2. Rose Lentzke

        I’ve had no issues either;)

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    18. Mick Martin

      I order directly from Medtronic/MiniMed, but they are paid for by our NHS (National Health Service), which is financed via direct taxation of all working people who earn more than a threshold as put out by our Government. (I live in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.)

      2
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    19. stillarobyn

      I order directly from Medtronic

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    20. Janis Senungetuk

      Using Medicare as a secondary insurance allows no other options. I use Edwards HCS for Tandem and Dexcom supplies.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    21. Bill Williams

      Since Insulet has not been able to get the Omnipod defined as DME under Medicare regulations, they now tell everyone how great it is to be able to get it through Part D plans. It puts you in the donut hole about January 2nd AND means that your insulin isn’t covered under Part B either.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. John McQuaid

        Re Insulin for OmniPod 5 – depends on how your prescription is written.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    22. Carol Meares

      I have just switched to Omnipod 5 and can get both my pods and cgm through pharmacy mail order.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    23. Jennifer Wilson

      I used to get my pump supplies through a DM supplier, but that became more expensive and more complicated (less efficient and reliable) than getting it from my local pharmacy. Now, I solely get the supplies from my local pharmacy.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    24. Jillmarie61

      I switched to the OmniPod5 four months ago. It’s available thru Pharmacy benefits, so I get it a my local pharmacy. But my Dexcom G6 CGM is paid thru DME, so I’m assigned to a company that supplies that.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    25. Pauline M Reynolds

      Other. I have an HMO and order my supplies directly from the manufacturers.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    26. StPetie

      Local pharmacy.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    27. PamK

      I have to do this with my current insurance. I hate it! On my previous insurance, I could just go to the pharmacy, but this policy doesn’t allow that. I’d take the pharmacy over mail-order any day!

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    28. LizB

      Currently using Medtronic and I get everything directly from them. I am trying to switch to Tandem & Dexcom and I know I will have to use a DME supplier for Dexcom but I think I can go directly to Tandem for the pump/supplies.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    29. John McQuaid

      I use the Omnpod 5, which Medicare does not consider DME. So my answer is no. However, Blue Cross covers it under the mail order pharmacy benefit.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    30. Lisa McBride

      My insurance has carved out some/all?DME and has Express Scripts, the PBM, handle it. So, I have to order from Express Scripts. It is a HUGE problem because they don’t understand that issues can arise occasionally so one MUST order a few more than the allotted number of supplies/day in case an issue arises and one has to throw away an unused supply . I ask my physician to order more than the normal 90 days supply so I have extras on hand – otherwise the PBM tells me “it’s too early to reorder” when I run out before day 90 and then I spend HOURS on the phone trying to get up their management chain until I can get to someone who will approve an override. It is a nightmare! I dislike having Express Scripts handle DME for this reason.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply

    If you use an insulin pump, do you order your pump supplies through a durable medical equipment supplier? Cancel reply

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