Gel packets and medicare

[dorothy kent]

I am confused. I believe I was getting coverage for gel packets for my ileostomy pouch. It is used to thicken the output. The medical distributor I am using no longer supplies the product and recommended a gel tablet that gets placed in the pouch. The tablet has not worked effectively for me. I called some other medical distributors and they said they "do not take assignment" for the gel product - in other words I pay out of pocket. Has anyone else had that experience? The code I believe no longer is covered is A4422 but I was told a different gel product (osto-gel) is covered by A4394. However, when I look up A4394 it shows up as a deodorant/lubricant and not a gel product. My head is spinning.

[Diane C]

Dorothy,

Since a visiting nurse is coming to my home to take care of a post-surgical wound, she must order my products -- I can't. I had received a sample of Diamonds by Convatec and found this gel product useful. I had given the visiting nurse a list of products I wanted and several were not included. I am calling the woman who called these in for the nurse on Monday to find out why. However, Cymed's Ile-Sorb gel caps were ordered and covered by Medicare. The visiting nurse used Edgepark. Here's info about these gel caps. http://cymedostomy.com/ileostomy.html I haven't tried them yet.

I used to use Edgepark and know many had complaints but I didn't. I was going to use Mercy Surgical which the care team that cared for me after surgery uses because of very personalized service but may return to Edgepark -- or use Byram. Mercy Surgical seems limited in the products it can order and get coverage from Medicare.

Hope this helps.

Diane C.