Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
A Type 1 diabetic who recently moved to Nova Scotia says they paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket while trying to apply for provincial programs that help cover the cost of insulin and supplies.
Beck Marie, 28, moved to Bridgewater, N.S., earlier this year from British Columbia where they had been covered for devices such as an insulin pump and glucose monitoring sensor.
Marie, who didn’t have a primary care provider at the time, said the applications to get coverage in Nova Scotia for pumps and sensors require the approval of specific health-care specialists based in the province.
“I have all my records from B.C. and Ontario that show that I’ve been on this exact insulin pump for 10 years. Like it’s not rocket science. I’m diabetic. It’s not going to go away,” Marie said.
Accessing a specialist was the problem, Marie said. They said they were told the wait time to see an endocrinologist, a doctor whose specialties include diabetes treatment, was 18 months.
Instead, Marie spent four months going to pharmacies, emergency departments and clinics looking for someone who could help while paying up to $800 a month to cover the cost of the insulin and devices.
“It was just a lot of me calling around, walking into places, driving to the pharmacy after work, seeing who’s available, waiting for an appointment, getting sent back and forth, making a lot of phone calls,” Marie said.
Marie said a nurse at a clinic was able to provide six months’ worth of insulin and supplies but they still need the approval of a specialist like an endocrinologist for permanent coverage.
Devices improve quality of life
Nova Scotia offers two programs to help cover insulin pumps and glucose monitoring sensors. They require separate applications.
Insulin and devices are not covered under Nova Scotia’s provincially run pharmacare program as they are in B.C., which is one of three provinces and one territory in the country that have signed pharmacare agreements with the federal government.
Cost is the biggest barrier to accessing pumps and sensors, according to Diabetes Canada, but the devices have become the standard of care and significantly improve the quality of life for those who use them.
“[People] have better outcomes related to diabetes. They’re less likely to end up in hospital. They have longer life expectancy,” said Laura O’Driscoll, senior manager of policy with Diabetes Canada.
Early last year, the federal government announced a plan for universal pharmacare that would cover diabetes medication, but it has yet to come to fruition.
O’Driscoll said a national plan would expand access to pumps and sensors and make life easier for a lot of Canadians with diabetes.
‘It’s just exhausting’
Marie would like to see a national plan established, but in the meantime they believe Nova Scotia’s programs, which launched last year, can be improved.
The Department of Health and Wellness declined an interview request from CBC News.
In a statement, a spokesperson said the province’s diabetes programs were designed to help Nova Scotians without a primary care provider access support.
There are diabetes centres located across the province and anyone struggling to access support can contact the province’s diabetes care program, the statement said.
Marie said when they tried to contact the program, they couldn’t reach anyone. They said when they finally made it to a diabetes centre at the hospital in Lunenburg, only one health professional was working and they told Marie they didn’t have the authority to sign their application.
Managing diabetes can take a lot of effort, Marie said, but accessing support shouldn’t make it more difficult.
“All of these barriers to getting on the program for devices that I need to live, it’s just, it was just exhausting,” Marie said.
MORE TOP STORIES
