When Winning Means Losing....

"Diabetes centers are for hospitals what discounted two-liter bottles of Coke are to grocery stores," she said. "They are not profitable but they're sold to get dedicated customers, and with the hospitals the hope is to get customers who will come back for the big moneymaking surgeries."

Great article in the Times which points out what most diabetics know: getting insurance to pay for complications is easy. Getting them to pay for prevention of complications isn't.

When I went on the insulin pump four years ago, the insurance company wasn't sure they wanted to pay. Why? Despite a pancreas that lives as little more than a placeholder, they weren't sure I was "sick" enough to warrant a treatment which has been shown to prevent ferociously expensive complications down the road.

Considering hospitals and doctors benefit when people get sick, I'm not sure what the creative solution is for this one.

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