Hi Beth, I agree with your article about test strips. I pay $87.43 a month for one touch ultra test strips...350 strips. I am on the medtronic minimed pump and test approx. 8-10 times a day. I have Senior Blue, part of Blue Shield of NENY. I am 70 and on a fixed income. I don't have to tell you how expensive it is to live with daibetes. After reading your article, I emailed J & J and complained about the cost of strips and I copied and pasted your comment on how they profit from the cost of the strips...I didn't use your name. I'm sure they could care less about how I feel about this, and they won't come down in price, no matter how many people complain! But it just felt good to let them know my feelings! Thanks for the article! R. Sue Levine
Yes there are alternative "less expensive" strip for other meters, but if you are dealing with a teenage girl-where everything needs to look cool, even if you've been diagnosed with diabetes-you are going to have to give in to the girl and go with a cute little meter that comes in "fun" colors. It's the least you can do with the dreaded sentence they have to serve! I guess that's what the test strip companies are counting on.
Thank you for the article. You have confirmed what I have always suspected. Strips cost pennies to produce and the mark-up and profits are unconscionable! And who said the United States doesn't need a PUBLIC OPTION??? I used to have a great health insurance plan that covered 6 tests per day and I had outstanding control, but over the past five years it has deteriorated. I have an outrageously high deductible ($6,000.00) before anything is covered. We all know why ebay is so successful. Either the insurance companies are selling off their nearly expired strips through ebay or the lucky people with great health coverage fraudulenty say they test 12 times a day and don't and are selling off the strips they don't use to some poor mom who is trying to help their child manage this miserable disease. What has become of Americans? How have we allowed ourselves to become so GREEDY. I think conscionable diabetics should get together and take all of those free meters and strips we've been getting over the years and have a conscionable diabetic Engineer develop and patent a new meter and strips for a NOT FOR PROFIT organization. Can you imagine if everyone paid 25 cents per strip? Everyone being able to test a minimum of four times per day and it costing only $365.00 per diabetic? Can you imagine how much healthier diabetics would be with this valuable information on a daily basis? Can you imagine the VOLUME of repeat orders? The NOT FOR PROFIT would make so much money, we might actually be able to find a CURE for diabetes rather than the Disease being such a CASH COW for the GREEDY and UNCONSCIONABLE!
I am constantly bombarded by offers of 'free monitor' in the mail, online, and on TV. Sure, they send you a free monitor with a few token test strips...then, you go to purchase the strips, and realize the SCAM! It is ridiculous how much these cost. I probably have six 'free' monitors in the closet, because I cannot afford the strips to use them!
I now use the Wal-mart brand "Reli-On" meter, and strips. The fifty (50) pack of strips are reasonably priced at $20.00. The meter was under $10.00.
More expensive is NOT better.
I am lucky in that I get 400 strips a month thru my insurance. These are Life Scan strips and you can bet the insurance is not paying thru the nose for them. But 400 can be close for me, particularly when the shipment is delayed a week or two, so I have turned to e-bay. The strips are closer dated than the ones I receive from insurance, so they are being used first. Some of the time it is an auction and other times a buy it now. The prices are much lower than even the Walmart strips; and the relief is incalculable, I no longer have to start worrying as I begin using my last vial. I never get to that point anymore. I highly recommend buying from e-bay; I look there for everything first. Helen
Do you (or anyone) know about Lantus Insulin? I've been using it for about 5 years. It's once a day, so testing is not that 'life or death' for me. The problem is, Lantus costs me $94.00 a month. I have written to the company, and have gotten no help. I have an RX Access card that discounts prescriptions, but Lantus no longer honors it! This is a huge company. I believe they have the market on all the "Flu Vaccines" and many other high dollar meds. You'd think they would be willing to discount insulin!
I use levemir and humalog and at the end of this year, I will complete three years with all my insulin coming from my endo. Have you ever asked your doctor for samples? And if you use any other name brand meds, try asking for those too. In addition to the insulin, for the last year my pcp has been supplying all my lipitor and protonix. Recently I got diovan from my endo as I has exhausted my stash and am perilously close to the donut hole. The doctor's medicine cabinet is an often overlooked resource for we patients who need a little extra help with meds. Helen
You can switch to levemir, which costs less, and I think there are more programs available for low income patients through novo nordisk. The difference is you may use a little more levemir. Levemir is also less acidic and so it doesn't burn when injected.
I have been trying levemir for the last 6 weeks and I think I like it better than lantus. Also my dosage did not increase. In fact, I may be lowering my basal by a unit or 2. It's all very individual how this stuff works.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I have asked my pcp for samples. Evidently, Lantus is in short 'sample' supply. A few years ago, when I could actually afford my meds, I told the doc that I felt bad asking for samples, because some people really needed them...Now, I'm one of those people. Imagine!
Is Levemir a 24 hour insulin? Humalog, I don't think you even need a RX for, right? I asked once about the 'pig' insulin that is much cheaper, and the doc said, since I had good control with Lantus, he'd like to stay with it. I agree, but the cost is killing me.
I have been researching costs and found that American Diabetes Whole sale has great prices. Fifty strips for $26.99, $25.64, auto ship. Free shipping $100.00 or more.
Also, "Just OTC" has great prices too. $21.25, plus shipping. $85.00 or more, free shipping.
The FreeStyle freedom Lite, or FreeStyle strips are one of the cheapest out there and are great as far as accuracy.
The strips are how the companys make money. We do need to unite in order to bring costs down.
I am a 50 year type one Diabetic. When I was just old enough to walk to the pharmacy to pick up my script the insulin was .98 cents. Currently there isn't an insulin below 100.00 dollars. Test strips are a rip off. The 8 to 10 cent cost has been raised to the user to about a dollar. We are a huge lobby. It is time we right our campain to the media, to Congress and the world. They, the medical supply companies are having sex with us and it is not conventional sex at that. Although technology has improved my life and potential I am overwhelmed at how willing J and J, and the others are to f us at every turn. When will we rise up to them? How will we do it? I will champion this cause as I hqave heard all the lies, "we are right around the corner" from a cure for a lifetime. I have a lifetime of dollars spent and an attitude worth the fight. Respectfully, MArk L Hodgson
I can certainly identify with the pain and frustration you express in the article. Your figures on the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and the standard retail prices of the Top 4 manufacturers' strips are very accurate, with the exception of Bayer who have their strips and meters built by Matsushita (Panasonic's parent company). Bayer pays about 16 cents a strip, as it turns out. The Top 4 brands are priced at $1 per strip because they spend a large amount of that margin to insurance companies when they secure formulary placement. The insurance companies get cash rebates and other incentives when the exceed their contracted volume thresholds for preferred brands. In essence, OneTouch strips cost a lot because of the overhead involved in making them the preferred (or co-preferred) brand by your health plan. LifeScan is required to keep the retail prices that high in order to keep the majority of their business that is reimbursed through the insurance payer system. As you and other readers are pointing out, there is a cash-based business (ReliOn, Home Diagnostics, etc.) that comes in at about half the price of the Top 4, but these are seldom reimbursed by insurance. The cash-based manufacturers are sometimes making even better profits than the Top 4 because they don't have the same overhead costs. It's in the financial interest of your insurance company to push as much business through it's preferred formulary brand(s). Saving you money isn't their concern, as you might guess.
I pay basically $185 out of pocket up front a month for 200 test strips. Yes, I do get 75-80% of my prescriptions reimbursed but it takes about a month to get it back so I only turn it in every few months. It's not just expensive for Type 1s! I have type 2 I take Humalog & Levimir and yes... it is equally expensive for me! It all costs the same no matter what type of diabetes you have. The insurance company doesn't really cut any breaks either way it doesn't seem to me. I am 43 years old, slightly overweight but by no means out of shape or obese. I eat well, walk my dog every day & ride my bicycle 2-3 times a week for at least an hour or more. I log on average probably minimum of 60 miles or so on my bike each week.
Other than being diabetic I am a relatively healthy person! No high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. So basically, I eat better and I am in better sdhape than a lot of non-diabetic people I know.
So yes, I feel your pain & am sympathetic to type 1's who have a lot of medical expenses but it's not really any different for A LOT of type 2's either! Meds are expensive across the board. And some of the newer meds in pill forms, etc are just as expensive if not more so! Januvia is approximately $189-198 a month for 30 pills flat out. So unlike Humalog on a sliding scale, you can't not eat less carbs & make it last longer & unlike when you take basal inslin that you can cut back almost in half the night before you exercise it is a flat rate that you have no room to play with or control over it is 1 pill per day.
My endocrinologist also has me testing four times a day and keeps changing my insulin doseage, he's lowering it which is a good thing, but I am still am going in about every other week for meter downloads.
So basically, being a type 2 can be very expensive & time consuming also. I am not saying it is the same at all... but at the same time... A lot of type 2's deal with all the same problems and frustrations, highs & lows, etc and on top of everything else have to deal with people looking, judging & treating them like they have just "done it to themselves" by eating too many sweets, having poor eating habits or being overweight or lazy and not exercising. None of which happens to be a lot of type 2 diabetics. Yes, I think all of these things can lead to type 2 but I do think genetics play a part also. I am the most active, least overweight and only diabetic person in my family but I am also adopted so lifestyle is not the only factor coming into play here. So no I don't really buy into the whole, it is our modern day lifestyle of too much driver-thru food, etc. that is leading to this type 2 epidemic.
Sorry to get on a rant but being a type 2 diabetic can be expensive & frustrating too! I deal with a lot of the same problems and sometimes I do get frustrated when people have that seemingly "oh, type 2, well that's different" dismissive attitude. In some ways it is, but in a lot of ways it is not! Often we get way less education up front & are left to figure out a lot more on our own! I was given an 2 types insulin pens told to take 12 units at each meal, a flat rate at night, met with a dietician one and was sent on my way... So the trial & error period was pretty rough and the learning curve was pretty steep. I do pretty well, my last A1c was 5.6 and my last 4 have all been 6 or under, but at the same time... I work pretty hard at it too, as much as anyone else I know with diabetes no matter what type. Most days... a lot of us are kind of all in the same boat together!
I couldn't agree with you more; the costs that Type 2s bear for supplies are very high as well. I wrote the article from the perspective of a caregiver of a Type 1 (I am the mother of a 13-year-old diabetic) because it is what I know best. I by no means meant to overlook the plight of Type 2s. My father was diagnosed with Type 2 nearly twenty years ago, and I am aware of the costs he faces as well.
Thank you for your comment and offering your perspective.
I think you hit the nail right on the head when you stated that the solution lies with the diabetic community. I think that the louder their voices, so to speak, the better their chances at fair-market pricing. Statistically, they have the numbers to do just that. Meanwhile, not so much as playing devil's advocate, J&J, like you also stated, "is a shrewd, tightly run company focusing on the bottom line and profit margins". In other words, the company appeared to know just how to balance between profit making and corporate social responsibility. Consider one of their programs that I link below. They offered free medicines to low-income Medicare beneficiaries. At the end of the day, someone has to pay extra to cover the cost for those free medicines. Could it be that those suffering from type 1 diabetes with no health insurance are the intended or unintended victims? Could it be considered as robbing Peter to pay Paul? "Johnson & Johnson Companies Will Offer Medicines Free to Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Enrolling In Many CMS-Endorsed Drug Cards" (http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2004/0002157696&EDATE=)
I have been looking for my ife, who has just been diagnosed with diabetes and have been shocked at some of the prices, but I have finally found a reasonable deal (still a bit high in my opinion though):
There is a meter on Amazon that cost about $25 and they have 50 strips for $9.90.
If Amazon runs out, you can do a google product search for each and get similar prices.
This seems to be the lowest cost option out there at this time.
My diabetes supplies are covered by Medicare. I was diagnosed as borderline diabetes type 2 and under Medicare type 2 requires only once a day testing but I was suspicious of fluctuations and was going to buy the additional strips over the counter until I saw the price of the strips. I, too, was flabbergasted. The manufacturers are cute;they practically give away the meters so that they get you hooked on their strips. There are no "universal" strips. You have to buy each manufacturer's specific test strips. This is an unbelievable rip-off and I'm furious about it. My doctor supplied the meter, which is a Bayer. I did google for test strips and did find the meter and strips supplied by Walmart and the next time my meter dies on me, I'm going to ask the doctor to give me a prescription for a new meter and will buy the Walmart one so that I can get the cheaper strips. Medicare pays for it, but why let the manufacturers rip off Medicare? The Medicare "Advantage" plans are already ripping off Medicare which is draining it deliberately as it is.
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Look on eBay for strips.