Re: Pump announcement

July 25, 2008

you're most likely right about the population stats, but I wonder how many type

1 diabetics there are in the US, and how many type 2s would benefit from a pump.

There was some article i read recently stating that more type 2s are going on

pumps because lack of control on oral meds and excersize.

Pump announcement

I'm very happy about the announcement in Ontario for the provincial plan to

cover insulin pumps for adults with Type 1. I don't know if anyone else in

here is from Ontario, but even if from other provinces, it's good news -

there may be pressure for others to follow. Also interesting is that there

appears to be real money to be spent on education and other initiatives

related to the disease. It even appears to be proactive - what a concept! I

know generally speaking that pumps don't speak, but I do know there are some

blind users of pumps, and even with some challenges, they have been using

them successfully. I'm very excited though - this means that my next pump

will be covered by Ontario's provincial health plan, and I won't have to

shell out the money for what amounts to buying a car every few years - maybe

I can use that money to buy a car instead *grin* . Until now Ontario has

only covered Type 1 kids, but cut them off the plan when they got to age 18.

That meant that if their pump went south, they went back on injections,

which really wasn't very nice! Here's the article from the Toronto Star

Experts say the strategy will help to curb the mounting epidemic sweeping

the province

Relief plan includes free insulin devices

Jul 23, 2008 04:30 AM

Ogilvie

ph Hall

Health Reporters

Diabetes experts and advocates were " dancing for joy " yesterday after the

announcement of a strategy they say will improve the lives of some 900,000

Ontarians living with the disease.

The four-year, $741 million plan will provide free insulin pumps for adults

with type 1 diabetes, fund surgery for the morbidly obese and create an

electronic diabetes registry to help patients manage their disease.

It also includes education campaigns to prevent people from getting diabetes

in the first place.

Experts say the three-pronged approach - encompassing prevention, management

and treatment - will go a long way to curb the epidemic sweeping the

province.

Kagedan, 21, has been living with an insulin pump for five and a half

years. The full-time student, who starts medical school at the University of

Toronto in September, said the pump has changed his life. It allowed him to

live out the full spectrum of teenage life, including playing on sports

teams, pulling an all-nighter and eating the occasional ice cream cone.

Right now, the pump is covered by his parents' health insurance.

" But this will not last forever, " he said. " When I'm no longer covered and

I'm a poor medical resident having to stay up all night and make ends meet,

I won't have to worry about having to go off the insulin pump because I

can't afford it and losing this thing that has made so much of my life

possible. "

It's estimated 1.2 million Ontarians will be diagnosed with diabetes by

2010, a surge that will swamp a health system that already spends $5 billion

a year to treat diabetes and its related conditions.

In a Star series on the disease last year, experts called for a

comprehensive diabetes strategy that closely resembled the one the province

unveiled yesterday.

The funding announcement was especially welcomed by people with type 1

diabetes, said Philp, vice-president of public policy and government

relations at the Canadian Diabetes Association. The province - the first in

Canada - has pledged to provide free insulin pumps for 1,300 adults with

type 1 diabetes, ramping up distribution over the next four years with the

goal of getting pumps to 12,000 eligible Ontarians by 2012, she said.

The province currently offers pumps to children younger than 18.

Until now, the only adults who could benefit from insulin pumps were

patients whose health insurance plans covered the device or those who could

afford to purchase one. The device costs roughly $5,000 and requires about

$250 worth of supplies each month.

" I've been working with all of our diabetes advocacy groups in Ontario for

three-and-a-half years, and they've been pushing for this, " said Philp.

" We're celebrating today. This is a significant step forward for people with

type 1 diabetes in the province ... so many are going to benefit from this. "

Dr. Irene Hramiak, chair of endocrinology and metabolism at the University

of Western Ontario, said the insulin pump initiative has the potential to

improve the health and lives of thousands of Ontarians.

The pager-sized pumps are attached to patients via 30 centimetres of plastic

tubing and a needle, which is inserted under the skin and changed every

three days. They deliver hourly doses of insulin, especially important at

night, as well as doses programmed by the patients themselves at mealtimes.

" Rather than taking a whole large amount of insulin at bedtime they get a

little bit every hour, " said Hramiak, who has helped lead the fight to have

pumps made available for all type 1 diabetics in the province.

Health Minister Caplan, who helped unveil the strategy yesterday in

Toronto, said the province has asked an expert panel to review whether the

pump program should be expanded to patients living with type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes experts said the multi-million-dollar strategy is positioned to

tackle the epidemic.

" This is a substantial amount of money. It's an amount of money that will

make a difference, " said Dr. , the Canadian Diabetes

Association chair in diabetes management at the University of Western

Ontario.

One of the plan's key components is an electronic registry to help patients

better manage their disease, which some experts say could be a precursor to

a full electronic health system for Ontarians. A report by the Ontario

Health Quality Council released earlier this year called for such a system

after finding fewer than half of diabetics can keep their blood sugar under

control.

Caplan said the $150 million investment will allow physicians to keep track

of patients by monitoring patient records, accessing diagnostic information

and sending alerts to patients.

" The end result will be faster diagnosis and faster treatment for Ontarians

living with diabetes, " he said. " I believe it will dramatically change

health care in Ontario and help reduce the incidence of diabetes in the

province. "

Such tools that allow patients to actively participate in their care are

critical for managing the disease, said O'Connor, executive director of

the Ontario branch of the Canadian Diabetes Association.

" Diabetes under control causes nothing, " he said. " Diabetes out of control

causes heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, limb amputation and

tremendous loss of life. "

Other elements of the province's diabetes strategy include:

a.. Education campaigns targeted to at-risk populations, such as the

aboriginal community and South Asians, to raise awareness of factors that

contribute to type 2 diabetes, including obesity, high blood pressure and

high cholesterol levels.

b.. A $75 million investment to improve access to bariatric surgery, a

procedure to treat obesity, one of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

c.. Expanded services for people with chronic kidney disease, a complication

of diabetes affecting roughly 40 per cent of Ontarians with diabetes.

d.. $290 million to increase access to team-based diabetes care for

underserviced regions in the province.

July 26, 2008

Hope Larry get's on ok onwednesday. My week is full of appointments too. bone

density scan, kidney ultrasound and the dreaded dentist. Urrrgh! Smile.

.

From: Naessens

Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 6:20 PM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: Re: Pump announcement

Hi , wait times are quite a problem here too. Larry was first diagnosed in

April as part of some routine bloodwork for a physical, however, he has yet to

see his endo for a first visit, which happens to be scheduled for this Wednesday

coming up.

Where so often I've seen comments in various lists suggesting to " just make an

appointment to see the doctor " or " just call up the doctor to discuss a problem "

or " fire the idiot and just get a new doctor' " that is not always practical or

even a possibility for us. So we just do the best we can, with some occasional

rumblings from us *grin*

Re: Pump announcement

You're right, Dave, the population of Canada is miniscule compared to the States

with less than 34 million. In Ontario it is only 12 million, and of that there

are only 1,300 adult Type 1s (according to another article that I read). So

we're talking very small numbers for impact on our health insurance plan. But

the big question here is whether it is sustainable, and it seems that services

are delisted every day. Which was nice to see something being added in for a

change.

Health care is not federally run, it is run by the individual provinces, and

each receives federal funding for health care, but establishes and runs its own

programs, so each is very different. Generally speaking, in Ontario, for the

average person, doctor visits, diagnosis and hospital treatments are covered,

but little else (save and except for some special programs and further social

assistance under certain conditions).

Some special equipment is covered under a special division of the plan, the

assistive devices program, like scleral shells (LOL), and our newest addition

being an insulin pump. But a talking blood glucose meter is not covered... yet.

But hopefully one day those will be covered as well.

For the most part though, with so few people here, there's nothing in it for

manufacturers to go through the hassel and bureaucracy of getting stuff here, so

often we just do without, or order from the States, out of our own pockets.

July 26, 2008

Hope Larry get's on ok onwednesday. My week is full of appointments too. bone

density scan, kidney ultrasound and the dreaded dentist. Urrrgh! Smile.

.

From: Naessens

Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 6:20 PM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: Re: Pump announcement

Hi , wait times are quite a problem here too. Larry was first diagnosed in

April as part of some routine bloodwork for a physical, however, he has yet to

see his endo for a first visit, which happens to be scheduled for this Wednesday

coming up.

Where so often I've seen comments in various lists suggesting to " just make an

appointment to see the doctor " or " just call up the doctor to discuss a problem "

or " fire the idiot and just get a new doctor' " that is not always practical or

even a possibility for us. So we just do the best we can, with some occasional

rumblings from us *grin*

Re: Pump announcement

You're right, Dave, the population of Canada is miniscule compared to the States

with less than 34 million. In Ontario it is only 12 million, and of that there

are only 1,300 adult Type 1s (according to another article that I read). So

we're talking very small numbers for impact on our health insurance plan. But

the big question here is whether it is sustainable, and it seems that services

are delisted every day. Which was nice to see something being added in for a

change.

Health care is not federally run, it is run by the individual provinces, and

each receives federal funding for health care, but establishes and runs its own

programs, so each is very different. Generally speaking, in Ontario, for the

average person, doctor visits, diagnosis and hospital treatments are covered,

but little else (save and except for some special programs and further social

assistance under certain conditions).

Some special equipment is covered under a special division of the plan, the

assistive devices program, like scleral shells (LOL), and our newest addition

being an insulin pump. But a talking blood glucose meter is not covered... yet.

But hopefully one day those will be covered as well.

For the most part though, with so few people here, there's nothing in it for

manufacturers to go through the hassel and bureaucracy of getting stuff here, so

often we just do without, or order from the States, out of our own pockets.

July 26, 2008

Hi Ruth, that is true, however, look how long it has taken the Prodigy to come

to Canada. As you well know, it's still not here, and the wheels grind slowly.

The fact is that manufacturers must jump through the proverbial hoops to get one

accepted into this country.

The Canadian market is just so small by comparison. How many blind people in

Canada have diabetes? Well I admit, that number is growing every day, and as

that number grows, other products will become available, as will the Prodigy (I

hope anyway!!)

Take for example talking meters in the States, which have been available there

for years. As I'm sure you know here, if a blind diabetic wants to use a talking

meter and have strips covered by insurance without any special permission, he

has one choice - the One Touch Profile, a 15 year old meter which has been out

of production for the last 7 years. The strips are still made, but no guarantee

from the manufacturer for how long that will be. The downside is that a big

whack of blood is needed, and really big pockets to carry around the meter,

strips, the talking box and the wire. Not exactly user friendly.

I do think that bureaucracy and annoyance factor is part of why manufacturers

don't apply to sell things here. They can take the same money, invest the

approval money into marketing, and have a more direct impact on their bottom

line. - it's a lot easier. That's what I think in part is happening anyway.

July 26, 2008