Like hundreds of thousands of Australians living with diabetes, accessing diabetes technology is too expensive for Greg. He has been living with type 2 diabetes since 2015 and more recently began using insulin. He knows firsthand the benefits a CGM device can provide.

Last September, Greg was admitted to the ICU with diabetic ketoacidosis following a bout of food poisoning which impacted his diabetes management. Fortunately, during that time he was wearing a CGM device that he accessed through a free trial. When the CGM alarm started sounding, he knew he had to call an ambulance.

“I think the CGM pretty much at that time, almost saved my life,” says Greg. 

Right now, diabetes technologies remain prohibitively expensive for Greg. “The lowest cost is $105 a fortnight for one of them. And the other one, I believe is around $1,200 a quarter, which is just way out of my financial range.”  

This situation will continue for as long as access to diabetes technologies is constrained by the type of diabetes a person has, or their ability to afford private health insurance.  

Watch Greg’s story here.