Jennifer D. Greer
I have the knowledge, the persistence, and the attitude to take on medical insurance companies and get them to approve procedures or devices that will mean the difference between life and death for their members.

Grab a cup of coffee and settle in, it's story time ...

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on February 13, 1990. 17 years later to the month, I developed diabetic peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), which caused me to also develop hypoglycemic unawareness (I can't tell when my blood sugar is low until it's dangerously low - in the 40s or 30s; normal blood sugar is between 70-120). I have had 2 horrific car accidents due to my blood sugar plummeting suddenly without my knowledge; thankfully the only things that were injured in those were the cars and a...[more]

Grab a cup of coffee and settle in, it's story time ...

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on February 13, 1990. 17 years later to the month, I developed diabetic peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), which caused me to also develop hypoglycemic unawareness (I can't tell when my blood sugar is low until it's dangerously low - in the 40s or 30s; normal blood sugar is between 70-120). I have had 2 horrific car accidents due to my blood sugar plummeting suddenly without my knowledge; thankfully the only things that were injured in those were the cars and a highway sign. I have had to have EMTs administer glucagon to me because I had fallen into an insulin coma. I had an incident in November 2007 in which I woke up at 3am with my blood sugar so low that I couldn't move out of bed. In the latter incident, I was able to reach a bucket of leftover Halloween candy and consumed 450 grams of carbohydrates in 40 minutes, and after all of that, my blood sugar at 3:40am was 46. 450 grams of carbohydrates should have raised my blood sugar a whole hell of a lot higher than 46; what in the world was my reading when I woke up?? It's truly a miracle that I woke up at all from that incident.

Due to all of the above, I determined that I needed to obtain a device called a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) manufactured by the makers of my insulin pump, Medtronic. The CGMS measures the user's blood sugar every 5 minutes, relays that information to their insulin pump, and alerts the wearer to blood sugar readings outside the user-set parameters. It took me SEVEN MONTHS to get my insurance company to approve the CGMS for me; they came up with one excuse after another as to why they refused to pay for it (from it not being medically necessary to it being a non-covered item to my diet is the reason I have hypoglycemia; I actually had a doctor on the panel of my 2nd level appeal YELL at me for not counting calories to base my insulin intake on; I informed him that 20 years ago that's how things were done, but that here in THIS century, we count carbs, and that he might want to get his facts straight before lecturing me. I also told him that I didn't know what he was board certified in, but it sure as hell wasn't endocrinology). I went through 2 internal appeals, one external appeal, an appeal through the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals ... I went all the way to the Commonwealth Court of PA (where I lived at the time) with my case. I got my Congressman (Paul Kanjorski) and State Representative (Mike Carroll) to assist me. Mr. Carroll and his chief of staff, Ron Ralston, went far above and beyond what I ever thought they would, and thanks in part to their help and persistence, the PA Secretary of State sustained my appeal on May 29, 2008, and less than a week later, I was the proud owner of a shiny new CGMS.

Many people who I encountered both during and after my fight said that I should do this type of thing for a living, and that got me thinking about putting my attitude and abilities to work in a consultant capacity. I've always said that I have 2 things going for me or against me in the attitude department depending on which side of it you're on - I'm from Jersey and I'm Italian; my insurance company DEFINITELY picked the wrong chick to mess with! [less]