Lawmakers urge VA to drop finger stick requirement
By HME News Staff
Updated 9:11 AM CDT, Fri August 20, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Tom Reed, R-NY., Co-Chairs of the Senate and Congressional Diabetes Caucuses, sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough urging the VA to stop requiring veterans to use the medically unnecessary four finger stick tests prior to initiating continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) therapy.
In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted their successful call earlier this year to CMS to remove the burden of this test on Medicare beneficiaries. They called on the VA to make a similar change to its criteria to ensure more veterans can access this convenient and lifesaving diabetes management and care technology.
“We appreciate the on-going efforts of the Veterans Health Administration to provide more efficient and effective health care services to our growing veteran populations,” wrote the Co-Chairs. “While the agency has made good strides toward that end, we also are concerned about achieving greater parity between federal health programs to ensure that our veterans enjoy the benefits afforded to Medicare beneficiaries.”
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