Reimbursement for Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems have been available for more than 15 years by now. However, market uptake is relatively low in most countries; in other words, relatively few patients with diabetes use CGM systems regularly. One major reason for the reluctance of patients to use CGM systems is the costs associated (i.e., in most countries no reimbursement is provided by the health insurance companies). In case reimbursement is in place, like in the United States, only certain patient groups get reimbursement that fulfills strict indications. This situation is somewhat surprising in view of the mounting evidence for benefits of CGM usage from clinical trials: most meta-analyses of these trials consistently show a clinically relevant improvement of glucose control associated with a reduction in hypoglycemic events. More recent trials with CGM systems with an improved CGM technology showed even more impressive benefits, especially if CGM systems are used in different combinations with an insulin pump (e.g., with automated bolus calculators and low glucose suspend features). Nevertheless, sufficient evidence is not available for all patient groups, and more data on cost-efficacy are needed. In addition, good data from real-world studies/registers documenting the benefits of CGM usage under daily life conditions would be of help to convince healthcare systems to cover the costs of CGM systems. In view of the ongoing improvements in established needle-type CGM systems, the fact that new CGM technology will come to the market soon (e.g., implantable sensors), that CGM-like systems are quite successfully at least in certain markets (like the flash glucose monitoring systems), and that the first artificial pancreas systems will come to the market in the next few years, there is a need to make sure that this major improvement in diabetes therapy becomes more widely available for patients with diabetes, for which better reimbursement is essential.