Tag: Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition

YARMOUTH, Maine - Medicare's mail-order program for diabetes testing supplies has decimated the industry, shutting out suppliers and drastically cutting reimbursement.When mail-order contracts go away come Jan. 1, access could get dicey for patients, says Christel Aprigliano, CEO of the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition.“There is no obligation for these suppliers to provide mail-order supplies and that greatly concerns the diabetes community,” she said. “Not having (supplies)...

TAMPA, Fla. - With drastically reduced payment amounts for diabetes test strips looming, advocates have taken to social media to call for a suspension of Medicare's competitive bidding program.“I think that social media has become what used to be the town square,” said Bennet Dunlap, co-founder of the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition. “So, hopefully, social media can do some social good.”DPAC last week launched a campaign calling for the immediate suspension of competitive...

TAMPA, Fla. - The Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition has launched a campaign calling for the immediate suspension of competitive bidding for diabetes testing supplies.DPAC has created the Suspend Bidding Action Center (www.diabetespac.org/suspendbidding) for site visitors to learn more about the issue, and help them to email their lawmakers and tweet members of Congress using the hashtag #SuspendBidding."It is outrageous that CMS continues to ignore the data and the pleas of Medicare beneficiaries...

WASHINGTON - Diabetes advocates say it's high time for Medicare to cover continuous glucose monitors.“CGMs have evolved a lot in recent years and they are a wonderful tool for people that are not sensitive to their lows,” said Bennet Dunlap, president of the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, a non-profit advocacy group for diabetes patients. “As people get older, they are less aware of their lows.”The devices track glucose levels in real time, allowing users to respond...

As a parent of two children with Type 1 diabetes, and fighting a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes himself, Bennet Dunlap is all for lower cost testing supplies. However, that shouldn't come at the higher cost of hospitalizations, complications and patient mortality, he says. Dunlap, president of the newly launched Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, a non-profit advocacy group for diabetes patients, recently spoke with HME News about his concerns with Medicare's competitive bidding program.HME News:...