I would like to express my grave concerns with the recent competitive bidding rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that would apply to durable medical equipment, and more specifically, blood glucose meter strips. This rule could have negative consequences for Medicare residents of southeastern Indiana that suffer from diabetes. Diabetes, both type 1 and 2, is one of the fastest-growing and most expensive health problems faced today. It is estimated that over 80 million people in the U.S. have diabetes or are on the verge of developing the disease.
Under the proposed competitive bidding process, suppliers will be submitting their lowest bids to provide these strips at the lowest cost possible to Medicare patients that use the mail-order system. I have serious concerns about this process as it will limit the range of product offerings to patients, causing patients to struggle to receive the brand of strips that they need, or even require them to switch to a new and unfamiliar testing system, which may result in seniors not testing their blood sugars resulting in a hospital or emergency room visit. Daily testing of blood sugars is the best way to properly manage diabetes and reduces the health care cost for all of us. Unfortunately, problems arise when diabetic patients fail to adequately monitor and manage their condition. With proper identification, treatment, education and motivation, patients can dramatically improve their health outcomes in a short amount of time.
CMS has tried to address this issue by instituting an “Anti-Switching” rule to ensure that patients will not be made to change their blood glucose meter or strip supplier. However this rule only applies to the SECOND round of cities included in the competitive bidding process- not in Southeastern Indiana.
As CEO and founder of S5Health, an online health management portal, I have spent over 30 years in the information technology and health care fields and have created diabetes management portals for patients. Our system addresses the five areas of diabetes management that enable patients, family members, caregivers and medical staff to better manage diabetes. As a father of a diabetic, this issue hits close to home. I have grave concerns that while it is always nice to trim health care costs, especially in this economy – it should never come at the risk of patient’s health or by limiting proactive activities.
I encourage all Hoosiers to contact their Senators and Representatives in Washington, DC to ask them to support legislation to ensure that the “Anti-Switching” rule applies to all Hoosiers from the onset of the rule.
James Jordan
CEO S5Health
James Jordan
CEO S5Health
Thank you for this post, Jim. I see that same concern myself, as someone who's lived with Type 1 diabetes now for more than a quarter century. But I see it going farther than the Medicare template - what happens with Medicare is often echoed throughout the private health insurance market. The insurers see what happens on the government side first, and then take that as guidanceo on what they can do (read: get away with). I fear that is also to come, if something like this comes to be and as lawmakers continue discussing possible cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Limiting strips is already something that is happening, but we could see it become more of a reality that our doctors are not able to override as to allow patients to receive more than that limit. This is where I really hope people contact their legislators and Congress members, and also push their insurance and medical supply companies to recognize these concerns.
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