We recently switched health insurance. On our old insurance, our 3 y/o daughter’s strips were FREE. It was incredible. When I tried to fill a prescription at the pharmacy today, I was told that, under our new insurance, 200 One Touch Ultra test strips would cost $204.40! As I have 100 strips at home right now, thankfully, it was not urgent that I fill that scrip today.
I had heard that test strips could be purchased on ebay, so when we got home from the pharmacy, I checked out ebay's prices. Within hours, I was able to purchase 200 strips for $72! (Now, of course, I was very happy, but I pray that they will work properly when they arrive. We'll see. Mind you, I've had a bad batch or two from the pharmacy that they wouldn't replace.)
But, it got me wondering... WHY are these same 200 strips, that we all NEED, only $72 on ebay, but over $200 at the pharmacy WITH insurance?? HOW can ebay sellers sell these strips at a profit? WHERE do they get them cheaper? If I am able to find almost 8 pages of sellers selling strips on ebay, WHY isn't this service being provided by JDRF or the ADA or other groups? Are they, and I just haven't heard of them? I've read countless stories about uninsured people who don't test as often as they should because they cannot afford the price of A DOLLAR A STRIP! It's insane how much these strips cost! (This is where I start to feel cynical about whether or not people are REALLY trying to find a cure, with all of these expensive 'treatments' that all diabetics need... but I digress.)
I would be much obliged if anyone can answer some of these questions for us. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!
about a year ago, my dad was looking on ebay and ended up buying 200 for me for a really low price, which i can’t remember right now, but i never had any problems whatsoever with the strips, heck, they even sent 200 new lancets with the strips.
as to how they get them so cheap, it’s anybody’s guess. it could be illegal activities, such as insurance fraud, but i don’t think that we could be held accountable for information not given to us even if anything wrong was happening.
also, check the seller’s rating on ebay. if it’s high, then i would feel really safe about buying the strips.
Thanks, guys. I guess I’ll have to be a more savvy bidder. Earlier in the day, I was outbid at $80 for 200 strips, so I thought I was getting a real deal at $72 (with free shipping, btw! I still got a deal, compared with the pharmacy price, but next time, I shall try to beat your winning bid, Duck Fiabetes!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree, it is a ‘ducked’ up system, but as long as there are ebay sellers out there who will sell strips to us for less $, I don’t really care where they came from. Just curious…
And, yes, Jeremy, the seller had a very high rating, so, fingers crossed that they’ll be fine. Thanks again.
The production costs of one strip are below 10 cents that is for sure. The rest of 90 cents is pure revenue. This money has been used for years to buy and close companies that have developed alternate patentable measuring methods. It is also used to give away measuring devices for free in huge amounts. This makes it very hard for new competitors to enter the market. This world is a greedy place and we allowed that to happen. Anyone interested in opening a production plant for test stripes? Millions of diabetics could do that. Yes, we still can change things!
Check the expiration dates on the strips you are bidding for. If you want really low prices and you go through tons of strips at a time, the strips that are closest to expiring are the cheapest.
Thank you for all the responses. I will check out Amazon as well… and yes, I did notice that the strips with a closer expiration date are cheaper. Thank you.
But, it still has me wondering… How can all of these Amazon and ebay sellers make a profit? How do I get strips at wholesale prices?? Where do the sellers find the cheaper strips? Does anyone know?
I get strips from all kinds of on-line sources. I’ve never had a problem with any of them. I get a hundred in my prescription ($25), but I’m testing like a fiend. The Pharmacy shelf price is what they will charge without insurance, right off the shelf. You can get some really good deals. It really helps, this is an expensive habit.
I think some of the eBay ones come from people getting more than what they need. I once read on another board about someone getting a ton of strips from someone they worked with because her husband kept getting a ton from the supply company and didn’t use them. I also once worked with someone that tried to give me stuff after her father died. If I died today, my family would find 30-some boxes because I get 33 at a time for a 3 month supply.
As far as the cost with your insurance, you might want to call your insurance company and see if the brand of strips you use is covered - that could explain the high cost for them. If the One Touch strips are not their preferred brand, then you would have to pay a ton. If they have a preferred brand, the strips might be cheaper so I would check on that. That actually happened to me once when I switched insurance & I made the pharmacist call my insurance & find out what was going on.
Wow, I’m going to check with my insurance company immediately to see if another brand of meter/strips is less expensive. Thanks again for all of the helpful advice.
My insurance company covers the OneTouch strips. Now I’m on the OmniPod and need to change to FreeStyle. I’m hoping that they just cover testing supplies period. If I’ve got a Cadillac plan, I should get some perk out of it. I can’t really complain about my insurance. They covered my Dexcom and my OmniPod at 90%. They didn’t even require a letter of medical necessity. Perhaps they are hip to the idea that if I’m really good at it now, I won’t be really expensive anytime soon. We do have some really expensive habits.
I get 200 a month but I tend to use more than 200. I needed alternative test strips that were cheap since I went over my allowance so I found the wavesense meter with ketone detection for 15 dollars at Walmart, the reason I chose this meter was because the test strips were like 22.50 for 50 strips. I had not purchase strips for a while cause I made them last a little bit longer. I had to go on vacation and get some backup strips. I went back to Wal-Mart and was able to purchase 50 strips for 17.50 so now I am looking at 200 for 70 dollars that are brand new from Walmart with no concern for defects since they come to Walmart directly from the manufacturer and no wait time for shipping. So you may check your local Walmart for strips for the wavesence and see if you can find the cheap prices in your location.
I love their meters. This company is going out of its way to help people out. I called them about purchasing software for tracking and they told me where to download it and they gave me a free USB cable to connect the meter to my pc to extract the data at no cost. It looks like they are really pushing out a good product that I feel has been accurate for me.
We’re thinking of the Omnipod once our 3 yr old is ready for a pump (she seems to get more ready with each injection) How much are they? I’ve never heard… Wonder if our insurance will cover it when we are ready, or if we’ll be able to afford it if they don’t. Yes, this is an expensive disease to have.
The Wavesense Presto, yeah… saw it today. I also get strips on eBay. Sometimes for $10 or less, for a box of 50… so long as expiration date is still doable, I haven’t had any issues.
Yeah, and my insurance recently made the OneTouch (Roche) strips a $15 copay, but Freestyle are a $45 copay. My insurance covers up to 200/month, but I have to get the doctor to write a script that says “Test before and after meals, and bedtime.” That way it adds up to 210 per month. Sometimes the insurance companies are pretty picky.
Thank you to all of you for the advice about insurance companies. We are still relatively new to not only diabetes, but also to this new insurance plan… which we only have because of a HIPAA law. Before a savvy insurance broker told us about HIPAA (one cannot be denied if covered for the previous 18 mos on a group plan) we were told by 4 different companies, “You will NEVER find anyone to insure your 3 year old daughter, because of her pre-existing condition.” NOT what any parent wants to hear about her child. Ugh…
Anyway, thankfully, she is now covered and I will be calling our insurance company tomorrow. I had no idea that some strips are covered more than others. I’m so glad I asked and I am so thankful for all of your helpful responses. I will also be checking out the Wavesense meters and strips at Wal-Mart. Thanks!
No insurance company pays retail for strips probably cost plus a small % mark up to the pharmacy! The only people who pay retail are people without coverage or people with high deductible plans or people who want strips not on a insurance companies formulary. The markup can be seen on ebay forgetting the cases of insurance fraud but fom legit sources - it’s probably 150%. You won’t see this advertised because of the mfg deals which are against that amount of advertised discounting. The deals I like ebay are meters and for less than $15. I can’t find proof yet but it my understanding strips are sold cheaper overseas and some how some get imported back into the States.
I still got a deal, compared with the pharmacy price, but next time, I shall try to beat your winning bid, Duck Fiabetes! 