Hi: My son will be graduating from college in December and shortly after relocating to the Silicon valley area (Mountain View) in California. We were fortunate to have him close to home for college. I am helping him move out there (from Pittsburgh) in January and of course my first order of business is making sure he has good doctors and decent insurance in place. His choice of insurance is Blue Shield /Blue Cross or Kaiser. Any recommendations are GREATLY appreciated. We do not have any experience w/ either of those insurances, so if one is better than the other when it comes to covering diabetic supplies please advise (in the process of getting approvals for the new Medtronic hybrid closed loop). Thanks so much!!
I live in the Bay Area and i see Dr. Marina Basina at Stanford. She is a very well respected Endo who is ahead of the times with new research. She actually takes time to look through glucose trends and help to make changes when needed. I struggled with that when I first transitioned to adult Endos, they would just quickly look to make sure you were checking your blood sugars and then send you on your way. I would suggest Blue Shield/ Blue Cross. Kaiser has a lot of set standards that are suppose to work for everyone when it comes to what is covered and what isn't covered and I like to have choices. I have avoided Kaiser at all costs.
Glad I was able to help. Let me know if you have any other questions. I live in the South Bay, San Jose, and I work at Stanford.
Hi Liz, Just wanted to Thank You again! Luke just had his first appt w/ Dr. Basina. He had nothing but great things to say about her. She was very thorough and made some great suggestions about modifying his current pump settings. In addition, she suggested some great Type 1 support groups etc... for young adults. Now, here's to hoping that California Blue Shield plays nice when requesting his new pump/CGM!