tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post7346806760105043915..comments2024-01-25T17:58:34.297-05:00Comments on Scott's Web Log: Happy D-Blog Day + Disease Management 2.0Scott Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03286529314567223617noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-12961365117740983322009-11-11T01:37:14.501-05:002009-11-11T01:37:14.501-05:00When I was still employed and/or covered by COBRA,...When I was still employed and/or covered by COBRA, UHC allowed me (a diet-and-exercise-controlled T2) unlimited test strips and lancets at zero co-pay. My Other Half, who is still with that company and went from "borderline diabetes" to full-fledged diagnosis (determined by fasting BG above diagnosis threshold, with A1c still in "normal" range), gets his metformin extended-release also at zero co-pay. This is without a specific "diabetes care" program.<br /><br />Where some of these programs can be helpful is when patients can be genuinely forgetful -- something we see in, or hear of happening to, retired, mostly shut-in (often due to low income) elderly folk.tmananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-45950262961202468402009-11-10T11:34:29.677-05:002009-11-10T11:34:29.677-05:00I work for a Fortune 500 company, self insured, wi...I work for a Fortune 500 company, self insured, with Cigna administering. For the last few years, they've used Mayo Clinic to administer one of these wellness plans. It includes a $50 reward for signing up for Mayo's diabetes monitoring, which gives one regular contact with a CDE (certified diabetes educator.)<br /><br />Problem is, the CDE wants me to get off my low carb diet. Hey, I've been keeping my A1c between 5.0 and 5.5 for years on low carb. (I was 10+ at Type 2 diagnosis.) I did have a bunch of diabetes questions I wanted help with, but I wrote off the Mayo service as worse than useless.<br /><br />So would UnitedHealthCare label a patient like me 'uncompliant'?Red Sphynxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11100740275894284607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-43094900656072234972009-11-10T09:36:38.841-05:002009-11-10T09:36:38.841-05:00Scott,
Because of doctors reliance on Fasting Glu...Scott,<br /><br />Because of doctors reliance on Fasting Glucose to diagnose diabetes, people with "Prediabetes" often have full fledged diabetes post-meal--i.e. bgs over 250 mg/dl for at least an hour, often much more.<br /><br />That's why almost 1/2 of all people with Type 2 have significant neuropathy on the DAY of "diagnosis."<br /><br />So treating "pre-" diabetes is good, not bad.<br /><br />What IS a problem is that the programs like this are likely to use poorly conducted studies about Type 2 to deny any treatment to people with A1cs under 7% including those who achieved those A1cs using medications. Ie.--get your A1c down and they take away the drug. They will also use poorly designed studies to deny strips to people with Type 2. <br /><br />I hear from people in countries with the kind of systems in place we are discussing here who can't even get metformin because their A1cs are under 7%. Barely.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17384082448952856117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-47100990790860737262009-11-10T08:49:37.824-05:002009-11-10T08:49:37.824-05:00Thanks Scott. This is something offered to our fa...Thanks Scott. This is something offered to our family. I'll look into it more closely now.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539813071708543339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-71872275924969610182009-11-10T08:36:41.616-05:002009-11-10T08:36:41.616-05:00Hi Sara, thanks for your comment. I did not inclu...Hi Sara, thanks for your comment. I did not include reference to it in my original posting (that's since been corrected) but right now, United is only offering the Diabetes Health Plan only to large companies that are self-insured, meaning the employers bear the entire risk while the insurer administers the plan. Depending upon whether the program succeeds in reducing costs, we could see it offered to others in the future (that seems to be the plan at UnitedHealthCare). Stay tuned for more!!Scott Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286529314567223617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16774010.post-60439150584677234792009-11-09T23:31:01.704-05:002009-11-09T23:31:01.704-05:00Hmm...I've been with United for years and once...Hmm...I've been with United for years and once this program was implemented I sure didn't hear much about it...but then again, perhaps my dad is stealing my mail again.Sarah and Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03299877306351922272noreply@blogger.com