New to Diabetes: What's Next? (Part 1)

By Amy Campbell Back in October, I posted a piece called "Getting Started With Type 2 Diabetes." My intent with that was to provide you with an overview of what to do when you're told you have diabetes (or what to do if you've had diabetes for a while but perhaps hadn't been ready to manage it). Now that we're in a new year, I thought it might be helpful to expand upon that piece a bit. As you and I well know, taking care of your diabetes can seem like a full-time job, and if this is all new to you, it can be a bit bewildering trying to sort it all out. So in the spirit of new beginnings, this week I'll share a couple more things to consider as you start your journey. Know your health plan You don't need me to tell you that having diabetes can be rather costly. Medicine and diabetes supplies don't come cheap, nor does diabetes education. Health-care plans vary in terms of their premiums, deductibles, and co-payments. They also tend to dictate what type of blood glucose meter strips and medicine they'll cover, as well as what types of diabetes services they'll cover, and where. Before you make an appointment with a diabetes specialist or purchase a particular meter, do some research on your health-care plan. Specifically, find out about the following: • Premiums • Co-payments for provider visits, medicines, and diabetes supplies • The amount of supplies you can get at one time • Where you can purchase your supplies • Coverage for diabetes medicin...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs