For those of us keeping score about the CGM Bill in Congress at home...Wait, why bother keeping score at home when you can easily do so at DPAC's website?Here's where we are sitting with the Medicare CGM Access Act of 2015, giving Medicare beneficiaries coverage for continuous glucose monitoring systems:
Medicare CGM Access Act of 2015
62 % of the House and 50% of the Senate think that this is something important for people with diabetes on Medicare in order to save taxpayer money AND the safety of those beneficiaries.What about the other 38% of the House and 50% of the Senate? Do they hear us?Perhaps they've forgotten about diabetes.
Let's Remind Them about Diabetes
Let's remind them that this is an important bill that needs to be passed.Let's remind them they can pass this even if they're campaigning for re-election.Let's remind them they can pass this even if they're not re-elected during the lame duck session.They can pass the bill before the end of 2016. There's no reason why they shouldn't - or couldn't.
Ask them now why wouldn't they?
Click on the link above and send a message to your Congressional representatives asking for them to remember the diabetes vote.... there are 29 million families worth of votes.And we're keeping score.Most private insurance plans covers continuous glucose monitors (CGM) because it adds value and safety to traditional finger sticks. For people using insulin and other medications that can cause low blood sugars, CGM can help prevent dangerous hypoglycemia. Seniors are more at risk than others for hospitalization from hypos, but currently Medicare will not cover CGM. CGM is the ongoing measurement of glucose in the body. It is a tool that gives people with diabetes blood glucose values over time, showing how quickly blood glucose values can change and in which direction it changes on a graph. You can think of it as gathering a string of information similar to what you would get testing with a meter every few minutes, but without all the finger sticks. Let help Congress see the value in CGM and have Medicare cover CGM usage.