Competition Restrained?

Most of us in the diabetes community are very upset about the recently published United Health Care (UHC) deal with Medtronic.  To review, as best as I understand, Medtronic and UHC have announced an agreement that will limit the purchase of pumps after July 1 for people covered by UHC plans exclusively to Medtronic.  Diabetes Mine, Diatribe, and Dpac provide a full explanation which I hope you will read.  Their reporting is outstanding so I will not restate it here.

My Pump Preference

To be clear, I am a well satisfied Medtronic pump user.  I like my pump a lot.  I have used one for almost 14 years, and I love the customer service at Medtronic.  I have looked at other pumps and have never wished to change, until last year.  What happened was not a slip up in customer service nor pump quality, those are wonderful.  Instead, I simply could not keep having poor experiences with the Medtronic CGM.   So two years ago I switched to Dexcom and obtained the G4 Platinum followed this year by the G5.  With the release of the integrated G4 pumps, I decided that if Roche does integrate a Dexcom into their pump, the next time I switch (2 years from now) I will obtain a Roche pump.

So in my case the Dexcom sensor, which I have been using now for two years as a stand-alone device with my Paradigm 751 pump is just that much better.  I have used both sensors, and believe the Dexcom sensor is so much better that I have decided to change pump brands when the current pump warranty is over.  Three years ago I never thought I would switch from Medtronic. I value their customer service, I love the durability of the pump, and I like the stability of their company in the marketplace.  But I simply need a better sensor than Medtronic offers, and I would like to have it integrated into my pump.    I cannot be alone in these thoughts.  Because I cannot be alone in my thinking, I believe the Medtronic / UHC deal looks more like a move to sustain its sensor business than its pump business.

Barrier to Innovation

For years, Medtronic has sold the value of the integrated pump/sensor device.  But now instead of only Medtronic having that feature, other pump manufacturers also have integrated pump/sensor devices and at least in my experience, they are integrated with sensors that are better (my  judgment), and more reliable (also my judgment).   At present, Medtronic has entered into the deal with UHC to help guide consumers to them for pump sales.  I am not angry at Medtronic or UHC for this move.  I understand it is a business decision; certainly neither company is trying to hurt users.

The Medtronic / UHC deal is a barrier to people like myself who might want to jump ship.  But at what cost?  We can look at this deal and say look most UHC clients have Medtronic pumps (that is what UHC said when asked about this deal), and we can say well ok it will not affect many people.  Or we can look at it differently and understand that the deal has the potential of setting off a chain reaction.

Most providers are sure to ask Medtronic for the same concessions that UHC received for this move.  Some will get them; others may have to go to other manufacturers and that leads to the big issue in my mind.  Is this a long-term business strategy to limit current and new pump manufacturers? I do not know, but it sure looks like it from where I sit.

Barrier to Competition

We need as much competition in the diabetes device market as we can get because competition leads to innovation.  The Animas Vibe is waterproof (that feature does not interest me in the least) but I know of others that need it for many reasons and I do not know a single person who would not like it on their pump.  The Tandem pump has a color screen (I could care less).  But for some people, it works better and who knows it might be very important. Medtronic has great customer service; I love it, but others find the customer service at other manufacturers just as good.  Innovation is best delivered when we have different solutions and approaches.

Help us support these different approaches to diabetes technology.  Help us apply pressure to let insurers know that there is so much more than simply cost at stake here.  The diabetes community needs device manufacturers to survive so long term costs will be reduced and innovation will thrive.  We need to humanize this story because looking from the ivory towers, one pump might look like all others, but we know this is simply not true.  Please help to reinforce why competing technology is vitally important to our community.  The best people to decide if a product lives or dies is the consumer, not insurers.   Help send that message over the coming days.  Follow Diabetes Mine, Diatribe, and Dpac for directions to register your discontent.  It is time to make a stand.

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Take away for May 5, 2016

• Competition is important in the pump market
• Competition leads to innovation
• Innovation leads to better outcomes
• Follow this story on Diabetes Mine, Diatribe, and Dpac