Outrageous cost of test strips
So I have a super high deductible- and the first time I bought my equip (tester, strips & needles) I dished out $144! Yes, I know, my current health insurance plan sucks. Anyway, I've been testing the past few weeks religiously & have been getting all great numbers (ok except 1 time when I cheated and the number was 125).
My insurance covers them at 100% as well as the unit and lancets. I've looked how much they cost out of pocket- so expensive. I'm in a gestational diabetes program, and if I wouldn't have gotten them for free or had a hard time obtaining them, they would have given them to me. Maybe ask your dr if your local hospital has a program? I see a nutritionist every other week for it, so more appointments in addition to my 2x/week dr but they are really supportive- it's worth it.
I did have to go a few days without testing. I changed insurance companies and had to get a whole new meter, lancets and test strips. And it was a holiday weekend so no one could help me. I agree though, the meter is the cheap part, my mom has type 2 diabetes and her test strips are over $100!
@ferrarisparkle You're prob right, but I still have a bunch of lancets to use up. But I think the next time I run out of supplies I'll just spring for the Relion device/lancets/test strips.
I think I do need to call the pharmacy. I just came back from Walmart and the same EXACT device I purchased at CVS (One Touch Ultra) was $20 at Walmart, and the lancets (super pricey brand, I guess) were at most like $68...so I really don't know how CVS got off charging me $144 for everything a few weeks ago. I was naive & didn't realize all of this could be purchased over the counter. I feel like I've been taken a fool.
PS- would've loved to have bought everything in Relion brand originally but now I have the One Touch device and the Relion strips are not compatible, apparently.
My mom is diabetic and told me that most likely they will give me a glucometer because the strips are outrageously expensive. I was just diagnosed on Friday and meet my nutritionist tomorrow, so we'll see...
It seems crazy to me that there can be a such a huge difference from name brand to store brand... Just one more thing I guess.
I would call and talk to your pharmacist and insurance. The pharmacy tried charging me 139 for my strips last week when they had been completely covered. I called my insurance when I got home and they told me to have the pharmacist call the help line and ask why it was so high. Apparently they switched to a new coding system last week and they needed to change the code. I went back and picked up my strips ($0 out of pocket).
I'll definitely look into that Relion brand! Thanks for the tip!
I'm going to ask my midwife on Thursday if they have any leftover strips I can use.
I use the store brand from walmart called relion. It was much cheaper to get that than to get a one touch meter and test strips that would of cost tons! I think I paid like $40 or maybe less for the meter and then the test strips are only $9 for a 50 ct. And my nutritionist said all the meters are basically the same with the same range. So I would definitely look at maybe using a store brand system it's a lot cheaper!
Thanks for understanding, ladies! Definitely a stressful factor. My due date is in 41 days, so I am fairly close. I just price compared the One Touch strips on Amazon/Walmart and Amazon actually wins, so I ordered a box of 50ct for $35 (free shipping with prime) so I have it in a few days. Maybe my midwife's office will have a few samples to give me in the meantime.
I work in health insurance and also have a high deductible.
How far along are you? Mine are cheaper by doing a 90-day mail order supply. Also check with your Rx coverage and see if they have alternatives that are more cost-effective.
I have a high deductible health plan as well and get bills for visits, lab work, etc. I do freak out over it, but just figure that when I deliver I won't have much left for my out of pocket maximum considering hospital stays are thousands and thousands of dollars.
P.S. I paid $70 for a 17 day supply. I almost died when the pharmacist told me that. Turned out that they were supposed to call my insurance for a prior authorization and didn't.
I was just curious the other day & my replacement test strips are $144 over the counter (100ct). When I was talking with the pharmacist (Kroger) she said their testers are like $10 and the strips are fractions of the cost of the name brands! I would definitely check all brands because you'll probably be better off buying a new generic tester & strips!
Crazy, right? The nurse did also rec checking Walmart for their over-the-counter strips...so I might go there tom. I really don't want to take any risks with this pregnancy, but at the same time I feel like my numbers have been great so far so I may have to end up testing every other day or something- when I (hopefully) find a cheaper set of test strips.
So now that I have my test strips when do I start testing! I am on day 2 of af today and it lasts about 3-4 days normally. I have about a 26-27 day cycle. Any help would be very appreciated thank you!!😀
‼️QUESTION‼️
I have been monitoring my blood pressure but I was wondering what is "too high" for the top number and "too high" for the bottom number also what's a good heart rate average


So I scheduled my appointment for Thursday when my insurance is active! I'm just wondering if I should pay out of pocket to get a blood test done at this point 😩.
I hadn't been testing with fmu, so I just thought.. Let me test with my $1 test with fmu and see what happens (I've been testing with frer only - 1st Pic is the last one I took on Sat) and I got a faint line I think.. I've been getting negative with frer.
🤔
I feel like I'm going to drive myself crazy testing because I have to wait f...

I suck my number is 12 and that’s stretching a tiny bit 🤣🤣
Few years ago this number would have been a lot higher
I'm so nervous I have to go to the DMV tomorrow to take my written exam and im scared I won't pass it. I have court on Wednesday for not having a driver's license and I know the judge is going to get on my ass for not having my DL. I've just been so stressed out. After the written test when can I go for the driving test?
Prior to getting married my copay was ridiculous. Instead of using the meter my endo prescribed I went to Walmart and purchased a reli on meter with the prime test strips which only cost 9 dollars.for 50 test strips. Much better deal than my copay