The cost of health technology
This post is totally off-topic and is purely an opportunity to vent a little bit I am a Type 2 diabetic and I control my glucose level with a combination of oral medication and insulin that I inject 3 times daily. I use a FreeStyle glucose monitor 3 – 5 times a day to keep an eye on my glucose level so I know when and how much to inject of the insulin. I have only had this FreeStyle monitor for a month and I am very pleased with how well it works. You just pop the little test strip into the bottom of the monitor and touch it to a tiny dot of blood and in about 10 seconds the monitor spits out your blood glucose level. It’s painless and easy. The test strips can only be used once so a supply of 100 strips lasts me about a month.
Yesterday I went into my pharmacy as my first 100 test strips had almost all been used and I needed to get some more. The look on my face must have been priceless as the cashier rang up my test strips as she asked me if everything was all right. You see, these 100 test strips rang up at $102 which shocked me. I mean I was totally unprepared for these little things costing so darn much. That’s over a dollar each and while I am sure the technology is sophisticated and all that this high cost still just floors me. You have to realize that diabetics have to use these things multiple times a day for their entire life so this cost is staggering when you look at it that way. Oh I paid my $102 and took my test strips home and I’ll continue to do so but it doesn’t make the expense any more tolerable.
http://www.activeforever.com/p-1409-freestyle-flash-blood-glucose-meter.aspx
They’re definately in the Gillette razor game – sell the device cheap and then make the money on the strips.
The above link is selling the device for $23 and the strips at $34 for 50. How many strips come with the device….?
I don’t remember how many strips came with the device, I believe 25.
If 25 came with the device, it’s almost worth buying 4+ of the devices at $23 to make a point…
My wife is also type 2 diabetic and I am also afflicted with high blood pressure and sleep apnea. My drugs are pretty cheap thanks to insurance. The thing that isn’t is the mask I have to sleep with every night. I recently had a clip on mine break. Thankfully, I am within the 90 day warranty and ResMed is replacing it. The cost of the mask is 165 dollars and it’s made out of plastic, rubber and neoprene (the straps).
Sorry to post so soon, but I was thinking…can you hook your meter to your computer to track your sugars?? Just wondering….
Do you have health insurance? If so, get your Dr. to write a perscription for your testing supplies as well. I also use the Freestyle, but I only pay a $25 copay for my 100 testing strips.
Well, not a big surprise. All drugs and such are priced wildly out of any relationship with the actual costs to produce and sell them in the industrialized nations, but it’s also a reflection of the practically criminal US system, I think.
It’s designed expressly so everybody makes a huge profit, and profit itself is the chief goal, not health care. Health care is just the means to make the money, not the goal in itself, which is pretty nasty.
A little greed can be a good thing to keep the economy hopping, but personally I think things are spinning wildly out of control over there when stuff that fall under basic human needs get taken over by private entities with the urge to make a maximized profit at any cost. Ah well.
James, we have three Freestyle flash in our house and a few other brands and am familiar with the Strip Game, it is terrible., But rest assured there is an answer. EBAY. You can find strips on EBay for about 1/2 price maybe a bit higher. You just have to shop wisely like it was electronics. You’ll see deals quite often when a company or someone has strips that have short expiration dates left on the strips for one, or people switch brands due to their insurance companies deals, and god forbid, quite often a Senior will pass with a large supply left over. And speaking of insurance, many a person are surprised when they find that their Health Insurance will cover their testing supplies. (I sound like Wilford Brimley)
Yes the Glucose meter game is none other then the RAZOR game that’s for sure. I have gotten my Mom several different models , since the meters can be had for nothing, I do well finding a great deal on one brand or another depending on what’s available.
In answer to another poster, the Freestyle Flash does accept a Cable to download the Test Results to a PC. They had an issue a few years back that the software was recording inaccurately and they pulled that software. I have not checked to see what is currently available. It used a miniature phone plug to standard RS-232 Serial FYI.
I have heard the continuing arguement from companies like this that “No, it does not cost us a dollar for every strip that comes off the assembly line, but the first that was made cost $500 million”.
All very nice, but American’s are burdened with an unfair proportion of this cost.
In Canada or Europe the same strips will cost a fraction of the price, but we are in a cycle of high pricing across the whole health care system that cannot seem to be broken.
My wife was billed $150 for 8 Motrin and 4 stool softeners while she was in hospital giving birth to my boy. We had to pay 10% of this which is still an order of magnitude more than the supermarket!
We are all being ripped off, but pity those that cannot afford the health premiums but are not covered by CMS. They are billed the full amount and can be burdened with paying that for the rest of their lives.
James, I strongly suggest you try a continuous glucose monitoring system. I’m diabetic as well, and my current system is a DexCom (http://www.dexcom.com), but there are others as well. They’re expensive to use ($60/week for the sensors for mine), but seeing what your glucose is doing on a continuous basis is really a revelation – you’ll learn all kinds of things about how your body responds to different foods and activities, and your control can REALLY improve. You can also cut your finger stick testing down to twice a day just to keep the device calibrated – shoot me an email if you’d like to chat about it.
— Jim
P.S.–> I have no affiliation with DexCom or any other similar co., just a huge fan of CGM since I started with the system right after it was released in ‘06.
Contrary to popular opinion reversing diabetes is possible. You can have normal blood sugars and it’s not only possible, but easy, in the scheme of things.
I don’t make any money from this, but have seen a huge reduction in glucose levels, to the point where a doctor would consider them normal.
If you’re willing to make a sacrifice and see success, you owe it to yourself to read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Live-Revolutionary-Formula-Sustained/dp/0316735507/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202930723&sr=8-1
I promise that, at the very least, your eyes will be opened.
James,
I’m in the same boat with you on the test strips. I’ve been a type I diabetic for more than 20 years. I keep hoping that they will come up with some sort of way to test without any pain and any strips. See http://www.sybd.com for a possible solution that is still in the development stages. Maybe one day we will get there!
Just happened to run across your post here. You may have found my health blog already (since I have a lot of tablet pc information there) but I also cover many other medical devices, and those that talk to blue tooth phones, etc. I just did a story on the Dexcom unit mentioned above. Good news is that there are some new alternatives coming around for glucose testing. Everybody goes the gambit with the testing strips and if you are in an HMO, they all have their “preferred supplier” as well, change your HMO, get a new machine and strips.
Anyway, I did a quick search of my site here for glucose and I’ll include the link. Also, many chains offer $4.00 for a 30 day generic prescription, although that won’t help with the strips, but the links go directly to the pdfs from the various chains so you can see if perhaps there is something on the list available for the $4.00. Each store has about 300-400 medications and I just listed Kroger last week as joining the retailers. I put the links there to help folks in not having to visit several websites for a comparison.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/search?q=glucose
Anyway, there’s quite a few healthcare resources on the right hand side of the page and perhaps some might be helpful or of interest. The glucose strips I think are very similar to what the tech side does with printers…I think the money comes from the strips and not the units, just like the printer and ink scenario!
James, it’s already been mentioned, but get a script from the doctor if you have prescription insurance. It’s definitely the razor model, you can usually get the machine for free/low cost, just to get you on board.
The cheapest I have found a box of 50 is $31.50 from hocks.com. I suggest you shop there. Best of luck.
dm