Will the free freestyle blood glucose system soon be covered by the RAMQ?

Question

i am a type 1 diabetic and am currently using the trial version of this system.

Anne-Émilie Dionne · Accepted Answer

Hello, In early October, the Institut national d'excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS), which makes recommendations to the RAMQ on drug coverage, issued an official recommendation to the Minister to include FreeStyle Libre on the Liste des médicaments du régime général d'assurance médicament. The INESSS has recommended that FreeStyle Libre be covered only for patients >18 years of age, treated with intensive insulin therapy, who must monitor their blood glucose at least 8x/day and who are at risk of frequent hypoglycemia. It is therefore a system that will be reimbursed CONDITIONALLY For the moment, despite this strong recommendation, it is impossible to know when this system will be reimbursed by the RAMQ. At the moment, it is estimated that it will be accepted by the end of November 2018, but this cannot be 100% confirmed Hoping that you will be able to benefit from this very technological and practical self-monitoring system to allow a better management of your diabetes For now, let's be patient! Hello again! Good news! During the month of July 2019, the RAMQ authorized the coverage of the "FreeStyle Libre" glucose meter as an exception drug. Finally! Please note that if you are insured by the public drug insurance plan (RAMQ), you must meet certain criteria to be eligible for reimbursement of the device: be >18 years old (or have at least 2 years of diabetes self-management experience)Take insulin (at least 3 or more injections/day) OR use an insulin pumpHave a history of hypoglycemia that could be hazardous to your health If these criteria are met, you must ask your treating physician to fill out the form for this purpose (payment authorization form available online on the RAMQ website).Once submitted to the RAMQ, the request will be analyzed within a few days/week and your pharmacist will be able to notify you as soon as the medication is authorized. If you have private insurance, your insurance may automatically reimburse the device (automatic claim at the pharmacy) or you may have to provide an authorization form (by fax). These details vary from one insurance company to another and you should contact them to find out their respective procedures. I hope you can benefit from this innovative technology which, in my opinion, is an ideal tool for better self-management of blood glucose.