6 ms·

Heh, was just wondering this at the pharmacy a couple of days ago... For one type of insulin I use (Lantus), it costs $400 for ~2.5 months worth, without insura

Heh, was just wondering this at the pharmacy a couple of days ago... For one type of insulin I use (Lantus), it costs $400 for ~2.5 months worth, without insurance—which I happen to be without atm. Frustrating. What's worse are the prices for 'test strips' for blood sugar monitors, though: about $120/mo for the cheapest kind, and insurance doesn't help much. And what you really want is a continuous monitor, but they're over twice that last I checked. And what you REALLY want is a glucose monitor/insulin dispenser feedback loop—or a new pancreas (speaking for Type 1's) :D —but those solutions obviously have their problems as well. [/rant]

wishinghand 12y ago
If you're in need of cheap test strips- get the Wal-Mart brand meter and strips. The strips are something like $9 for 50, instead of the $1 per strip I'm used to paying even when I was on insurance. I'm a type 1 and I use them, and they read pretty accurately with the CGM that I do shell out for.
- bpowell 12y ago
  I'm also a type 1 and highly recommend the Walmart Reli-On test strips. Cost savings on those is amazing. I do have the Reli-On meter and they work great together.
- westoncb 12y ago
  Wow, that sounds like a great deal. I'd been using True Test and True Track, from Kroger dealers and Walgreens. There isn't a Walmart anywhere near me (downtown Boston), but I'll see if I can get 'em online.
- neckro23 12y ago
  The store-brand meters and strips are usually a great deal if you don't have insurance, but the catch-22 is that most Rx insurance won't pay for the generic strips, just the name-brand ones.
vojant 12y ago
How much Lantus do you use? In Poland I was paying around $100 for 5 pens, in UK not much more (without insurance). Test strips (Accu-Chek) arround $15 for 50.
- westoncb 12y ago
  I use 20 units daily. I believe the units are 1/5 mL each. That's definitely a better price than I can get here—although I did just find out I can do the old jar/syringe thing for $267! Ugh.
brrt 12y ago
From this side of the Atlantic, or really probably from any country that has some form of assured health care, the notion that you could have to go without insulin in the states is... baffling. Utterly baffling. Best of luck with it!
- themartorana 12y ago
  It's baffling to a lot of us on this side as well...
- ars 12y ago
  Every state, as far as I know, has some kind of program to make sure no one has to go without. The trouble is not paying for it, there is help, the trouble is they make it a huge pain, with annoying paperwork.
- marincounty 12y ago
  It's embarrassing. For years a lot of Americans just hoped they didn't get sick. Obamacare has helped, but people are falling through the cracks. Insurance companies took advantage of the bill, and raised rates to the point where some/many unemployed people can't afford private insurance, or qualify for medi-cal. (To all the Obama naysayers--he tried. By the time Republicans got through scaring people, he needed to include private insurance companies, just to get something passed. And something is still better than what we had before--Nothing! No insurance--own house--get sick--go to hospital--get jacked up bill--can't afford to pay--hospital lawyers eventually receive judgement on lawsuit--eventually attach home--quietly evict you! This scenario is still possible. I hear about these earnest individuals(without assets) and refusing to declare bankruptcy still struggling to pay off their medical bills. Go ahead, but just know the rates they charge you were padded, and you are paying the highest rates they can charge you? Even if you pay cash, and they half the bill(antidotal stories I have heard on the fact machine) you are still paying way more than anyone with collective bargaining agreements(Insurance companies). Don't be a hero? It's a rigged system. Yes--I have a bit of anger towards the medical system.
  - Turing_Machine 12y ago
falsestprophet 12y ago
Try buying insulin online from abroad. Looks like 1 pen costs less than $1 in India.
- DanBC 12y ago
  For a while there was an insulin-smuggling system organised on Compuserve to get bovine insulin into the US. Some people with diabetes said that human insulin didn't give them the same hypo warning signs; bovine insulin wasn't available in the US and import was banned under BSE beef bans.
fencepost 12y ago
Are you without insurance because of income or a "qualifying event" like losing a job? If so, you should look at Commonwealth Connector (re: income) or the ACA options (if you had insurance that went away). Even a very cheap plan may end up including prescription coverage that includes those test strips (disclaimer: the only person using test strips whose finances I know anything about is on Medicare, which covers almost all of the cost).
- westoncb 12y ago
  I quit my job, having some limited savings, in order to finish a project I'm working on (+ other reasons). So I probably won't qualify. I may look into it a little more, but my estimate at this point is that putting the time into figuring it out will likely cost more than just paying for it. I'll have insurance again within half a year. Thanks for the tips though, I'll at least stash the names of those programs away just in case.
  - tdicola 12y ago
    I'm pretty sure leaving a job, even on your own accord, is a qualifying event that you can use to get subsidized healthcare. You should definitely look into what option are available.
  - vermontdevil 12y ago
    I would recommend calling and ask to see if you qualify for anything. Never assume you don't. You never know. It practically cost you nothing to call and see.
    - westoncb 12y ago
      Yeah, probably not a bad idea.
  - arjunnarayan 12y ago
    Quitting your job is a qualifying event. You definitely qualify. I was looking at Obamacare because I want to start a startup. I considered signing up by February and just have two insurances for a while rather than go without health insurance (since I graduate from my PhD program mid year, and would then lose my health insurance in August). But I researched this just in case, and turns out that's wildly unnecessary, and the system is set up for things like this. Voila, if you had insurance through a job, school, whatever, and lose it at any time due to a job change (whether quitting, or firing, or whatever), that's a qualifying event that allows you to sign up for new insurance within XYZ days of the event.

wishinghand 12y ago

If you're in need of cheap test strips- get the Wal-Mart brand meter and strips. The strips are something like $9 for 50, instead of the $1 per strip I'm used to paying even when I was on insurance. I'm a type 1 and I use them, and they read pretty accurately with the CGM that I do shell out for.

bpowell 12y ago
I'm also a type 1 and highly recommend the Walmart Reli-On test strips. Cost savings on those is amazing. I do have the Reli-On meter and they work great together.
westoncb 12y ago
Wow, that sounds like a great deal. I'd been using True Test and True Track, from Kroger dealers and Walgreens. There isn't a Walmart anywhere near me (downtown Boston), but I'll see if I can get 'em online.
neckro23 12y ago
The store-brand meters and strips are usually a great deal if you don't have insurance, but the catch-22 is that most Rx insurance won't pay for the generic strips, just the name-brand ones.

vojant 12y ago

How much Lantus do you use? In Poland I was paying around $100 for 5 pens, in UK not much more (without insurance). Test strips (Accu-Chek) arround $15 for 50.

westoncb 12y ago
I use 20 units daily. I believe the units are 1/5 mL each. That's definitely a better price than I can get here—although I did just find out I can do the old jar/syringe thing for $267! Ugh.

brrt 12y ago

From this side of the Atlantic, or really probably from any country that has some form of assured health care, the notion that you could have to go without insulin in the states is... baffling. Utterly baffling. Best of luck with it!

themartorana 12y ago
It's baffling to a lot of us on this side as well...
ars 12y ago
Every state, as far as I know, has some kind of program to make sure no one has to go without. The trouble is not paying for it, there is help, the trouble is they make it a huge pain, with annoying paperwork.
marincounty 12y ago
It's embarrassing. For years a lot of Americans just hoped they didn't get sick. Obamacare has helped, but people are falling through the cracks. Insurance companies took advantage of the bill, and raised rates to the point where some/many unemployed people can't afford private insurance, or qualify for medi-cal. (To all the Obama naysayers--he tried. By the time Republicans got through scaring people, he needed to include private insurance companies, just to get something passed. And something is still better than what we had before--Nothing! No insurance--own house--get sick--go to hospital--get jacked up bill--can't afford to pay--hospital lawyers eventually receive judgement on lawsuit--eventually attach home--quietly evict you! This scenario is still possible. I hear about these earnest individuals(without assets) and refusing to declare bankruptcy still struggling to pay off their medical bills. Go ahead, but just know the rates they charge you were padded, and you are paying the highest rates they can charge you? Even if you pay cash, and they half the bill(antidotal stories I have heard on the fact machine) you are still paying way more than anyone with collective bargaining agreements(Insurance companies). Don't be a hero? It's a rigged system. Yes--I have a bit of anger towards the medical system.
- Turing_Machine 12y ago

falsestprophet 12y ago

Try buying insulin online from abroad. Looks like 1 pen costs less than $1 in India.

DanBC 12y ago
For a while there was an insulin-smuggling system organised on Compuserve to get bovine insulin into the US. Some people with diabetes said that human insulin didn't give them the same hypo warning signs; bovine insulin wasn't available in the US and import was banned under BSE beef bans.

fencepost 12y ago

Are you without insurance because of income or a "qualifying event" like losing a job? If so, you should look at Commonwealth Connector (re: income) or the ACA options (if you had insurance that went away). Even a very cheap plan may end up including prescription coverage that includes those test strips (disclaimer: the only person using test strips whose finances I know anything about is on Medicare, which covers almost all of the cost).

westoncb 12y ago
I quit my job, having some limited savings, in order to finish a project I'm working on (+ other reasons). So I probably won't qualify. I may look into it a little more, but my estimate at this point is that putting the time into figuring it out will likely cost more than just paying for it. I'll have insurance again within half a year. Thanks for the tips though, I'll at least stash the names of those programs away just in case.
- tdicola 12y ago
  I'm pretty sure leaving a job, even on your own accord, is a qualifying event that you can use to get subsidized healthcare. You should definitely look into what option are available.
- vermontdevil 12y ago
  I would recommend calling and ask to see if you qualify for anything. Never assume you don't. You never know. It practically cost you nothing to call and see.
  - westoncb 12y ago
    Yeah, probably not a bad idea.
- arjunnarayan 12y ago
  Quitting your job is a qualifying event. You definitely qualify. I was looking at Obamacare because I want to start a startup. I considered signing up by February and just have two insurances for a while rather than go without health insurance (since I graduate from my PhD program mid year, and would then lose my health insurance in August). But I researched this just in case, and turns out that's wildly unnecessary, and the system is set up for things like this. Voila, if you had insurance through a job, school, whatever, and lose it at any time due to a job change (whether quitting, or firing, or whatever), that's a qualifying event that allows you to sign up for new insurance within XYZ days of the event.