Friday, December 2, 2011

Limiting test strips

Many PWDs complain about their insurance, or Medicare limiting test strips, and thus, they can't test as often as they need to.

Well, test strips are only as good as how you use the information you get from them. Insurance companies tend to limit strips because of an English study that showed that Type 2's who tested didn't get any better A1cs than those that did not test. But the important question that they didn't bother to ask was, WHY? Well, it's probably because Type 2's who are not on insulin have no way to DO anything about high numbers, other than to log them and show their docs their logbooks. And then the docs tend not to do anything, either, until it becomes an emergency.

At this point, there are NO Type 2 drugs that will allow a person to get a high BG down. They can try exercise, if they are able, but even that is not always effective. Some medical professionals are advocating early use of insulin, and it makes sense to me if it gives them a way to have immediate feedback and the ability to lower their BGs. Also, because diabetes in some is primarily a secretory defect, with insulin resistance only a contributor, insulin makes sense for them, too. (I just got this out of reading a genetic study).

So, because insurance companies are run by business people for profit, and are NOT in the business of optimizing people's health, they practice a one-size-fits-all policy on test strips, and if you need more, then it's YOUR problem! :-(