By Janice Harvey, RPh, CDE
An announcement this month has been met with considerable excitement amongst people with diabetes. As of August 1, 2023, the Libre 2 system is now covered by PharmaCare. People can now choose between the Dexcom G6 and the Libre 2 systems.
This isn’t for everybody. In order to qualify for special authority, individuals need to be injecting insulin multiple times per day or using an insulin pump and agree to receive education about diabetes and have at least one of the following:
- Hypoglycemia unawareness
- Frequent and unpredictable hypoglycemic episodes
- Unpredictable swings in blood glucose
- A functional restriction that inhibits use of test strips
- An occupation where hypoglycemia is a significant safety risk
Please ask Janice, our Certified Diabetes Educator, if you’re not sure if you qualify. We can request special authority on behalf of your prescriber, which can greatly speed up the process.
It’s also important to note that once you are receiving coverage for the Libre 2 system, the number of test strips that will be covered each year will be restricted to two boxes of 100. For this reason, you may want to try out a free trial kit to make sure this is right for you. You can request this online by signing up for MyFreeStyle and attending a free webinar that will go over how to apply and use the Libre 2, as well as how to interpret your scan data. Be sure to request a Libre 2 Reader if you do not have a compatible smart phone and are unable to use the free app.
The original Libre sensors are not covered by PharmaCare and are currently unavailable. For some people, this could be a good opportunity to switch to the newer technology.