Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Saving On Diabetic Test Strips

My husband checks his blood sugar twice daily. I filled his test strip prescription for the first time since our plan changed to a drug copay.

Ouch! $25 for 50 strips, or not quite enough to round out the month.

I raced home and called customer service for help. Here are 3 strategies for saving on diabetic test strips:

The first problem is that his blood glucose monitor is no longer on the insurance's "preferred" list. They will send him a free voucher for a comparable unit and its preferred strips. This will drop the copay from $25 to $15 a month.

Second, his doctor can write him a prescription for more strips. They come in boxes of 50 or 100. A 100 strip prescription will leave roughly 25 unused per month.

Third, the customer service rep recommended we buy strips using the "home delivery" option of three month's worth at a time, for the cost of only two copays ($30).

With 25 strips extra per box, a three month's supply should technically last four months, dropping the per month cost to under $8.

I know my little brother is snickering right now, but that's a lot of money saved over a year's time!

3 comments:

Goslyn said...

yes it is! good for you for doing this research.

Sarah E. said...

I'm glad you posted that because I had gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy, checking my sugar 3 times a day. I am pregnant again and if I have the diabetes with this pregnancy I would have automatically just used my 3 year old monitor and may have encountered the same problem. At least I know now what to check on if that time comes.

Mom2fur said...

I'm just glad to hear your husband is keeping up with his diabetes. It's so important. My mil never really kept up with testing her blood sugar, and it really took its toll on every part of her body.
I'm also glad they've made it easier to test your blood sugar. Now, if they'd make it less expensive for you...