Yay it’s time to reorder
I’m keeping this as an online journal of how it goes.
No new rx is needed, so this should be a simple refill. All I need is a transmitter.
Day 1, 3-10
Call and wait on hold for 30 minutes before it transferred to voicemail—- leave message saying I need to re- order transmitter and also have a new secondary insurance, please return call.
Also emailed my assigned sales rep to say the same and attached photos front and back of the primary and secondary insurance cards.
3/13. No reply or callback yet. Resent same email to assigned sales rep.
I was assigned to Solara by Tandem but insisted on another distributor and was told I was now assigned to CCS. Have gotten two call from Solara, including a few minutes ago, and none from CCS. Could be a bad start to things.
Tell them to call me next time they call
Got this message, appears to be auto generated, not sure… suspicious because it arrived not long after I re-sent to my sales rep
“Thank you for your response, we have an order that is pending benefits investigation as soon as we get the proper documentation in we will send your order out to you. If you have any questions please call us at…”
This is exactly what’s wrong with the American healthcare system.
I can order almost anything with the click of one button on amazon and have it on my doorstep within 24 hours for a competitive and reasonable price that goes directly on my credit card.
For medical supplies that I actually need? Utter dysfunction and chaos, prescribers, payers, formularies, primary vs secondary, falsely high prices which are reduced by contractually negotiated prices which are obscured by undisclosed pbm rebates
Just absolutely stupid and every “reform” seems to actually make it worse
Maybe eBay purchases and xDrip (to let you extend transmitter life) would be a good option? @docslotnick talked about crazy transmitter life using it.
If you factor in longer use of the transmitters and your copay and the hassle you’re going through, it might be worthwhile to look into.
Also there is that FB group I sent you that let’s you do transmitter replacements.
I downloaded the xdrip iOS beta version and it allowed me to reset my transmitter clock… but it still died at 90 days even though it had been supposedly reprogrammed to think it was only about 30 days old at that point
BTW, it’s great that I can post that without fear of the “finger”…
Good times!
I think we just passed your anniversary, BTW!! Only 96 years left…
Do you mean they hand of death?
It might be an appropriate time for us to start using the hand of death here
A week later… nothing
Called and waited on hold for 30 minutes then auto transferred to voicemail. Left an angry message… whatever, confident that nobody will listen to it
Also emailed assigned sales rep again
Also tried to place order on app using the “path of least resistance” method saying there have been no insurance changes etc (even though that’ll cost me a lot more money if it goes through because it won’t bill my secondary)
Called my insurance plan and left message requesting an alternative to ordering through solara because they’re unable to meet my needs.
All Dexcom distributors appear quite poor, but, on the basis of your journal, I have to say that I think Solara definitely appears to be the worst by far.
Honestly at this point my nightmare experience with them is what’s keeping me from considering an insulin pump because there is no way in hell I’d feel safe depending on them for pump supplies
Mine come through Advanced Diabetes Supply (North Coast Medical) and I have been very pleased with their service. May it so continue! 
I spent a fair bit of time on the phone with insurance etc… they gave me a few other suppliers to try—- but I’ve gotten conflicting messages from dexcom themselves about solara being the only one they contract with for my insurance
Gave edge park a call today so they’re looking into my benefits
Looks like I am going to be able to order through edge-park. Hoping for a much better experience with them. They did call back with my insurance verification within the timeframe they said they would so that’s a good sign.
Then again I thought solara was good in my first interaction with them too.
Re solara—- 2 weeks have gone by and there have been no updates. I have emailed them 4 additional times and received no replies. My two voicemails have gone unanswered. This is just for a cgm. Imagine if I needed pump supplies. Their level of service surely must have cost a few people their lives by now.
Oh F me.
Now they just wrote back and said I’m not due for g5 transmitter because they sent one in December and they last 6 months.
(Of course we all know they last 90 days)
So I wrote back and they quickly replied… “oh yeah you’re right we’ll look into that”
We have been able to manage with edge-park recently. Their online ordering system works pretty well to keep them attentive and on track. When we were first diagnosed we had some bad edge-park stories, but we had them all last year and didn’t have more than the “normal” amount of bs.
We use Edgepark for pod supplies. On the whole they have done well with us. There is a vendor thread on them here at FUD.
Of course, it is only with difficulty and a lot of earnest effort that they could do worse than what Solara has done with you 
I think I would be pretty easy to please at this point