Doctors, Insurance Companies, and Test Strips, Oh My!

Where should I start? So, my insurance company has a maximum limit of test strips they will cover each month at 150 strips, or 5 tests per day. I test more than that. This is a face of life I have come to expect. Recently, I changed primary care physicians because I changed insurance and my old doctor is not covered by this insurance. Ok. I had an appointment with the new doctor and told her I test 8 times per day because I am active and am insensitive to lows and that I would need a prior approval. She said, “Ok, when you go to the pharmacy, have them send a form to us which we will send to the insurance company.” As it turns out, she could have gotten the form online and sent it directly to the company covering prescriptions. So, there was some wasted time and energy already. Then I call the office on Friday to tell them this (it kind of felt like I was telling them how to do their job). They call back and long story short make an appointment for Monday (yesterday) so that I could talk to my new doctor. I suppose I should note that I told them I test 10 times per day. It really varies between 6-10, but why not just say the maximum? Seems easier that way, but I guess not. At the appointment yesterday she told me she was concerned that testing 10 times per day is an indication of anxiety. And that people with controlled diabetes often test only once per day, and those with uncontrolled diabetes test 4 times per day. So she didn’t think I should be testing 10 times per day. This frustrated and confused me so much I lost my composure and started to cry. So, I did a blood test because I usually cry when I’m low. I wasn’t. I was just soooo angry that I cried. That sometimes happens. Am I so far out of the loop that everything I’ve learned, read, and been told is now obsolete? I thought the recommendation was a minimum of 4 tests per day for Type 1 diabetics. That would be testing before breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bed. Makes sense to me. Then, last I knew, it is recommended to test before driving to avoid driving while low. Driving with low blood sugar is like driving drunk. So, that would bring it to 6 tests (assuming a round-trip). I’m pretty sure it’s recommended to test prior to exercise, too. And after. I just don’t see how someone could have well controlled diabetes on one test per day. There was a while that I was only testing 1-3 times per day and my A1c (which is an average glucose measurement of the last 3 months) was above 8.0%. My most recent A1c was 7.6% (when I was testing 6-10 times per day). The target A1c is less than 7%. In terms of glucose readings you’d normally see: 8.0% = 183 mg/dL, 7.5% = 169 mg/dL, 7% = 154 mg/dL. It seems that with more tests, my blood sugars are, on average, better. On top of this, the American Diabetes Association says, and I quote, “To get tight control, you must do the following: Measure your blood glucose levels more often.” http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/tight-diabetes-control.html It makes me feel a little crazy that I should be taking advice from this person, this doctor, who should know the right information, but it’s almost opposite of everything else I thought I already knew. Alright, I’m done ranting.