Lisa Christensen and her daughter Lillithe. (Supplied by Lisa Christensen)
BC Becomes First Province to Reimburse Diabetes Patients Using Dexcom G6, welcome news for a Vancouver Island mom.
Dexcom is a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) that provides regular updates of blood values throughout the day.
It is now covered by BC PharmaCare.
Lisa Christensen’s daughter Lillithe uses Dexcom to treat her type 1 diabetes.
Christensen says the most important thing about Dexcom is that you have constant access to your blood sugar level.
“So if you go too high or too low it can be dangerous for you,” she said. “With the Dexcom you can see where you want to go and you can make sure that nothing dangerous happens.”
Previously, CGM devices in British Columbia were not covered by private insurance or public funding, leaving many parents to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.
This is no longer the case with Dexcom.
“I was quite surprised by the news and it’s very important to people with diabetes,” she said. “This is an excellent step in the right direction to cover everyone.”
Christenen says that without coverage, CGM technology costs families around $ 300 per month with a subscription.
Christensen has been campaigning for the province to make CGMs the standard of care for all parents whose children are living with the disease for several years.
“It’s really difficult because not everyone qualifies for the charity programs, so there are a lot of people who have paid out of pocket,” she said. “Especially indispensable for children, but for every diabetic.”
Christensen says her family was among the lucky ones because they got a scholarship from a charity called Bear Essentials.
(Bear Essentials is a family support program that covers the cost of health-related travel and equipment for Vancouver Island children).
“We’re going to qualify under Pharmacare, which is going to be really good because our Bear Essentials funding was gone and it was very generously extended for another period,” said Christensen.
BC PharmaCare coverage is for people over two years of age who have type 1 diabetes (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D) and who use insulin.
More than 520,000 people in BC are diagnosed with T1D and T2D, and it is estimated that an additional million people will have undiagnosed T2D and prediabetes combined.
The Dexcom G6 CGM System includes a small portable sensor that measures glucose just under the skin; a transmitter to continuously and wirelessly transmit glucose levels to a display device; and a compatible smart device or receiver that shows users real-time glucose data without the need for finger pricks or scans.
CGM devices such as the Dexcom G6 can help improve diabetes management and the quality of life for both patient and caregiver, increasing confidence and reducing stress by making blood glucose readings easier to obtain.
With the increased use of telemedicine practices as a result of COVID, devices such as CGMs have proven valuable in helping doctors monitor patient values remotely and in real time.
Christensen says this helps families sleep at night as Dexcom sends out an alert if something goes out of range.
She added that based on the information provided by Dexcom, they significantly lowered their A1C.
“We are more in control of our numbers and have dropped to 6.1 A1C,” she said.
“It is considered ‘acceptable control’ that children are more likely to be 7.0 to 7.5 because they want them to run high (to) reduce the risk of lows that may not get caught on finger bumps. Constant access to data with Dexcom makes it safer to stay within reach. “
The ‘normal’ range for A1C is less than 5.7.
“We were also able to avoid significant lows the entire time we were on Dexcom,” added Christensen.
“It can take a long time to recover from a low, so it is very important that we can prevent it so that Lillithe can lead a fairly normal life as an active child.”
