CareSource Diabetes Care Rewards — Earn Up to $35

What CareSource rewards

• $25 for a diabetic eye exam (retinal exam).
• $10 for a kidney screening — this is a urine test for protein (microalbumin / urine albumin-creatinine ratio).

An important correction: HbA1c is not a kidney screening

An HbA1c is a blood-sugar test. It measures your average glucose over about three months. It tells your doctor nothing about your kidneys, and CareSource lists no HbA1c reward.

This matters clinically, not just for the money: if you ask for an HbA1c expecting the kidney reward, you get no reward and you skip the urine test that actually catches kidney damage early, while it can still be slowed. Ask specifically for the urine protein / microalbumin test.

Keep having your HbA1c done as your doctor recommends — it is important diabetes care. It just is not this reward.

How CareSource pays you

Rewards are paid as retailer gift cards — Walmart, Old Navy and TJ Maxx — not as cash and not as a credit you can withdraw. Gift cards cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco or firearms.

Expiration

Rewards expire in mid-December of the following year, and your access to the rewards portal ends if you are disenrolled from CareSource. Redeem what you have earned rather than letting it sit.