I am there with you and whilst not a driver, I type at a keyboard so fully get what you are saying about type 1 (and like you I’ve been one for 34 years too).
Its not so much about lack of acceptance on my part. Since moving onto the more concentrated insulins I have no hypo awarenesses at all. I have had hypos hit me on the way home from work and almost ended up under a train and got rushed to hospital as a result. Then forced to stay in overnight and if they had their way they would have kept me longer. Each hypo I have, if I am out and about at work or on way home from work costs them more money in the treatment of the hypos than it would to fund the Libre in my book so its more a preventative measure.
If I had the money to self fund it – I would do it without doubt but as it stands, spending that kind of money isn’t something I do normally on a day to day living basis let alone for healthcare.
Its not that we should be “special” cases, but that long term I think its more cost effective to fund these rather than deal with the consequences.
Now part of me, also thinks it’s a scam that these new insulins are more concentrated. As we’ve both been diabetics for the same amount of time, I’m sure you remember like I do that we used to use both the clear and cloudy insulins and mix them in the syringers ourselves. Likewise when pens were first introduced, I found them to be great and it was easier to balance my sugar levels then (and I was only injecting twice a day and carb counting them too). With these newer insulins I’m injecting 5x a day and still carb counting. Diabetes was in the past a manageable condition, and with the newer insulins it doesn’t feel that it has the same freedom and so we present more of a risk if we do hit hypos to the public. Maybe that’s just my take, but so be it.