My 23 year old son, who started using a pump less than three months ago, plans to visit the United States for five to six months. He most likely will be able to bring enough insulin and test strips with him from our health plan here, but the infusion sets are going to be a problem because they don’t want to give him enough for the visit. I have tried to find where to purchase the sets (and to find out how much they cost), but have not been successful.I have a few questions:

Does he need a prescription for infusion sets?
How much do they cost (ballpark figure)?
Where can he get them — is there a possibility of ordering on-line?

Our suggestion would be to bring enough supplies for a month, and have someone in your home country, perhaps the pump company representative, periodically ship a supply. The company has an 800 number here in the US, and of course, your son or his sponsors can call them from here to see what they advise. Have you contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health for advice regarding healthcare benefits while traveling abroad?

Your son should be “tied” to an endocrinologist while here. See Finding a New Diabetes Doctor for some hints on how to locate one.

With regard to your specific questions:

Yes, he will need a prescription for infusion sets, which he can get from the US endocrinologist.
Infusion sets are about $10.00 US apiece and are usually sold in packages of 10 or 20.
You can find several companies from which to order infusion sets on-line by searching Google for “insulin pump infusion sets”.

SS