Trina Health Diabetic Patients Are Denied Life-Changing Coverage by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama

Business Wire

Largest insurance provider in state of Alabama denies claims and retroactively bills for previously approved claims

MONTGOMERY, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Trina Health of Alabama opened two state-of-the-art clinics in Fairhope and Foley in 2015 with the goal of bringing life-changing treatment to the many Alabamians suffering from diabetes. The Artificial Pancreas Treatment (APT) plays a key role in reversing many of the devastating effects of diabetes. It has proven particularly successful in correcting the core problem of the disease: abnormal formation, breakdown and interconversion of carbohydrates in the body.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, the largest health insurance provider in the state with 2.1 million policy holders, issued a denial of coverage to Trina Health for APT earlier this summer. After initially covering the treatment it began retroactively billing patients for months of treatments already received.

“With more than 550,000 people in Alabama suffering from diabetes, and more than a million in the prediabetes stage, the state’s diabetes epidemic is huge. Nowhere in the country is the rate of diabetes higher,” says Ford Gilbert, founder of Trina Health. “Blue Cross Blue Shield providers in other states have approved the treatment; yet in Alabama, where it really hurts, coverage has been denied. Not only will diabetics needing the treatment suffer, Alabama taxpayers must continue to pay millions of their hard-earned tax dollars for unnecessary medical costs related to the complications of diabetes.”

Many years of research and testing went into the development of FDA-cleared APT and it has a history of success in stopping and often reversing the complications of diabetes. The system has been tested at Harvard University, Scripps Research Institute, University of California Davis, University of Arizona, Temple University and Mayo clinics, among others.

Patients undergoing the treatment often experience significant nerve improvement in the feeling of their limbs, faster healing of wounds, reduced hypoglycemic episodes, improved vision, including color recognition and brightness. Diabetics with chronic kidney disease have also experienced dramatic improvement in filtration, helping slow the onset of End Stage Renal Disease.

“As a result of my APT treatments I am getting feeling back in my toes and no longer have sharp pains due to neuropathy. My Retinal Specialist told me that the damage to my eyes has cleared up,” says Teresa Rawls, a patient at Trina Health of Alabama and insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield. “These treatments have given me my life back and my desire to live. I don’t want to go back to that other existence of my body decaying due to diabetes. I need these treatments and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama should cover them.”

As word of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama’s decision spreads throughout the diabetes community, patients, their families and loved ones are looking for a way to communicate with the company to urge them to reconsider.

Go to www.ALDiabetesCoverage.com and digitally sign and show your support of the treatment.
Email [email protected] to share your story.
Formally appeal your denial of coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.
File an official complaint with the Alabama Department of Insurance at www.aldoi.gov.

If you are a member of the media interested in covering this story or setting up an interview, please contact Amber Bagwell at 214.347.7140 ext. 146; email [email protected].

ABOUT TRINA HEALTH OF ALABAMA

Trina Health of Alabama offers the Artificial Pancreas Treatment (APT) dedicated to helping patients suffering from Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (also known as improper resting carbohydrate metabolism). The APT has been instrumental in stopping and reversing the following complications: neuropathy, retinopathy, wounds, kidney disease, heart disease, hypoglycemic episodes, hypertension, chronic fatigue and muscle fatigue and gastrointestinal problems.

To schedule a free consultation or for more information, please contact the clinic in Foley at 251.732.2635, the clinic in Fairhope at 251.206.6350 or visit us online at www.TrinaHealthAL.com.