Today, the Yukon T1D Support Network found out that the Yukon Formulary Working Group is not recommending Continuous Glucose Monitors for adults be covered under the Chronic Disease and Disability Benefits Program.
A decision to not fund CGMs through Chronic Disease speaks to dysfunction on many levels. First, in an age of COVID19, where governmental maneuvering of tremendous amounts of money fails to manifest into coverage of a necessary and comparatively economical life-saving device, it is an egregious display of misaligned priorities when persons with disease are still left wondering if accessibility is even on the table.
Second, the secrecy involved in these moments of decision-making contributes to confusion, slows processes down, and renders patients and patient groups invisible. Patient voice matters! It should not be an afterthought, or a consideration, or a progress check; patient perspectives should DRIVE the conversation. Contrary to what many decision-makers portray, patient voice will not bankrupt the system, and can, in fact, contribute to the landscape of efficient and cost-effective health care. Meetings held in secret, without the end user (the real consumer), are meetings that are held without a full picture.
Last, but certainly not least, these decision-makers base their recommendations on what other jurisdictions have done and what national and regional HTAs have done. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the insufficient supports for persons with Type 1 diabetes in Yukon, there is real health disparity in the territory. We do not have access to the same supports, the same resources, the same health professionals as exists in other jurisdictions. There is a genuine poverty of adequate health interventions for persons with T1D here. When we say that CGMs are needed, it is largely due to the same system in which this newest iteration of decision-making was birthed. Put simply, CGMs help individuals in part because systems fail individuals.
We sincerely hope that Yukon Government does the right thing here —does the fair and just thing here— and opts to fund Continuous Glucose Monitors for adults through another government program.
To those Yukon residents with T1D – we will keep working to make CGM access a reality for all.