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VA POLICY SHORTCHANGES VETERANS WITH TYPE-2
DIABETES -- VA provides only 50 blood glucose
test strips
every 90 days for non-insulin dependent
patients. But, vets
are being told to test twice a day and need 180
strips.
I have received a number of emails from
veterans with type-2 diabetes complaining about a VA policy that limits
the number of blood glucose test strips they receive.
It appears the VA, to save money, is
shortchanging veterans, again.
With a 90-day supply of medication, vets are
only getting 50 test strips, yet their doctors are telling them they
must test twice a day...that means 180 strips.
In the article below, the VA says:
"...there is no good data saying finger sticks [using test strips] make
any difference in controlling diabetes."
So, which is it? The VA's policy?
Or, what the vets are being told by their doctors?
A quick look online shows that vets are having
to pay about $75 to $150 every 90 days for the needed strips.
Type-2 diabetes is a presumptive disease for
all veterans who were in Vietnam, so we are correct to "presume" that
the VA will supply veterans with what they need to control the disease.
Wrong!
This is a shameful policy!
For more on diabetes, use the VA Watchdog
search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=diabetes&op=and
Story here...
http://www.kingmandailyminer.
com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSection
ID=18&ArticleID=12858&TM=54043.5
Story below:
-------------------------
Vet questions VA's response to his needs
Terry Organ
Miner Staff Writer
KINGMAN - Joseph Zarate feels the Veterans
Administration has a double standard when it comes to care of veterans
afflicted with diabetes.
Zarate served 4-1/2 years in the United States Marine Corps. In 2001, he
was diagnosed with type-2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes for which he
takes the medication Metformin.
He receives 90-day supplies of Metformin (three tablets per day) and
strips for testing his blood sugar. However, he is only authorized 50
strips, which is not nearly enough to test himself twice daily (180
strips needed) during each three-month period as a VA doctor has told
him to do.
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by high levels of
blood glucose (sugar). It results from problems with insulin production
and how the body uses it.
Type-2 diabetes develops when the body does not use insulin properly,
according to information on the Web site of the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs. In response, the pancreas produces more insulin
initially and then reduces its production until there is not enough
insulin to meet body needs.
That leads to increased sugar levels in the blood, while cells are
starving for energy. Nerves and blood vessels ultimately are damaged,
resulting in heart, blood vessel or kidney disease, nerve problems and
gum infections. In turn, those complications can lead to stroke,
blindness and amputation of limbs.
There was a problem with the last mail order. Zarate did not immediately
open it and check to ensure it contained three bottles, each with 90
tablets, of Metformin to cover three months.
He pulled out a bottle as needed, and when he finished the second bottle
on July 19 and went to get the third, it was not in the box.
Zarate tried calling the mail order company about the shortage but ran
into a maze of voice prompts that only led to frustration. In checking
his online account with the company, he found Metformin could not be
refilled until Aug. 9 and no more test strips could be sent out until
Aug. 19.
"I called the VA Hospital in Prescott (where he spoke to a woman in the
pharmacy) and they filled an emergency Metformin order and mailed it out
to me July 20," Zarate said.
"However, they would not send me any test strips because I'm a type-2
diabetic and am only authorized 50 strips every 90 days. The math
doesn't add up."
He said it is unfair for the VA to limit testing supplies for type-2
diabetics and not for those classified as type-1 (insulin dependent).
"We can go without medication for a short time," Zarate said. "But if
you look at studies on diabetics and the importance of keeping blood
sugar at normal levels, you find different things can go wrong with us.
"I have diabetic neuropathy in my arms and legs. The medication for it
costs so much the VA will not consider paying for it."
Zarate went to a Kingman pharmacy to purchase more test strips at his
own expense.
Sally Fine, acting public information officer for the VA Hospital in
Prescott, said the pharmacy there will do an emergency medication fill
anytime for a veteran, as was the case for Zarate.
She contacted head pharmacist Greg Arriola for clarification about
policy on diabetic test strips.
"VA policy is that anyone on oral medication gets one box of 50 strips
every 90 days, in spite of the fact there is no good data saying finger
sticks make any difference in controlling diabetes," Fine said.
"Type-1 diabetics do get more test strips, 200 for 90 days."
Fine could not say how long the policy on test strip numbers has been in
effect. She suggests any veteran with diabetes having a problem contact
Arriola at (928) 445-4860, ext. 6213.
Unfortunately, there is no local help available to the best of her
knowledge for diabetic veterans needing oral medication or test strips,
according to Melissa Palmer, diabetes education program coordinator at
Kingman Regional Medical Center.
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
