[IP] Medicare Insulin Pump and supplies approval
Medicare documentation online under DME MAC as of April 2010 seems to approve
of insulin pumps and supplies. See LCD 5044 under External Infusion Pumps for
details. Has anyone gotten approval from Medicare and actually gotten a pump
in the last 6 mos?Further.. a key sentence to get DME supplies approved -
requires that the patient be seen and evaluated by the treating physician at
least every 3 months.
Some very large companies, Liberty Medical, to name one, indicates that they
cannot ship supplies unless the doctor's visit be within 90 days of ordering
infusion sets. I checked with other suppliers and they don't follow those
rules. These rules are clearly documented in LCD5044 for Medicare
payment.There is good news and bad news here. It is good that an insulin pump
can be covered under Medicare. It is bad news if you have to see your
physician every 90 days in order to get DME supplies for your pump.I find this
absurd that Medicare requires that you must see your physician every 90 days
and notify places like Liberty Medical in order for them to pay for your
supplies. However, IF.. that is the rule, then that's what we will have to do.
Can anyone confirm this? And who confirmed this L5044 document?
Best Regards, Tom - 44 yrs Type I
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