Not taking into account insurance or medicare of anykind. If you were forced to pay for the Omnipod and the PDM out of your own pocket or return to MDI for free, what would you pay for the Omnipod per year? Just curious what others would pay. I am forced to make this decision due to a change in insurance. The Omnipod is going to cost me 800-1000 dollers per year or I can go back to injections and pay nothing. I am leaning toward injections but I was interested to hear what others had to say. Thanks for your input
I think 800 - 1000 is well worth the flexibility and control you get!
As we have a $5000/yr deductible for our daughter’s insurance, we pay out-of-pocket for everything. We spend $550 per month for her supplies: 10 pods and 100 strips for $450 from a mail-order pharmacy, plus one bottle of insulin for $100 (which usually lasts for about one month.) I am curious to see what others’ responses are, too.
I WISH we only paid $1000 per year for our Omnipods!!! That is an excellent price, IMHO, for the flexibility and control you get with an Omnipod. We have recently also had an insurance change. We are now paying about $3K each (there are two of us). I would not go back to to MDI, if at all possible. 
We are in the exact same boat and wouldn’t consider switching.
May I ask why you would not consider switching? Just curious, to me going back to MDI would not phase me one bit, but i am interested to know why you would not. I am not questioning your decision just curious and interested. Thanks
I love the way the pod figures out the insulin I need. I love being able to get my basal to exactly what I need. I love eating when I want. And my a1c has gone down from 7.0 to 6.1.
We would pay in a heartbeat. OmniPod brings my son a lot of independence and flexibility he would not have yet on MDI. He is only 10, so he would not be ready to manage MDI on his own. For an adult, this would not be as much of a factor. So, if you had a pen and didn’t mind doing many daily injections (eating outside of meals, etc) then I suppose it would not be as big a factor. Just depends on how much the flexibility and convenience factors in to your daily life.
Hi Tonya, My deductible is also $5K yearly…so I try to utilize every cheaper option I can. You can get test strips
for the Pod by using the “promise” program. I pay $15 a month for 400 strips! it is quite a savings for me. I don’t remember the exact site but I think you can do a search on google for the Abbott promise program. Also, I know it has been on different discussion on this site too! Maybe someone else on this site can add more info after reading this. Good luck!
Thank you, Gail. The mail-order pharmacy we buy from gets us the discount from the Abbott Freestyle Promise program, and then, because we buy our strips from them, they sell us our pods at a cheaper price than if we bought them directly from Insulet. And, I misspoke before. We actually receive 200 strips per month, plus the 10 pods for $450/month. Honestly, it seems like 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, when I have tried comparing costs from different programs. Any way you look at it, the bottom line is this is an expensive disease to have.
Because of my deductable and 80% coverage, I pay around $1500 a year for the pod. It’s well worth it and I wouldn’t hesitate to make adjustments to my expenses and pay a bit more if need be. I don’t know if I could afford to pay 100% of the cost. I would seriously run the numbers, though, before going back to MDI.
If injections give you the same control and you’re just as satisfied doing it that way, then why not? Personally, I would pay the extra because with the pod and CGM, I can achieve better control and usually avoid the highs and lows more than if I were taking injections. If you have to pay the entire bill, yes it does get pricey. I suppose it just has to be one of those priorities you budget for and cut back somewhere else. If you spread this out over a year and it comes to less than $100/month, I would consider it reasonable. Depends on your financial situation.
Yes it is an expensive disease! I am very lucky that I have convinced my employer to pay for my pods.
For some people $1000 is a lot, for others it is nothing. What people would pay out-of-pocket is more a reflection on how well-off they are than how desirable the OmniPod is.
Pay it if you can afford it… If not, return to MDI.
just curious how a bottle of insulin last u a month? My daughter goes thru a bottle if insulin normally every 9 days.
I think it completely depends on your insulin needs. My son, who is 10 and about 75 lbs. puts 150 units into each pod and often has 35-50 left when it comes time for the pod change. I have tried to find just the right amount so the pod does not run out before the 72 hours are up but we don’t throw away a huge amount either.
Like DaneenM said below, everyone’s insulin needs are different. I only fill the syringe to the minimum line (which I think is like 85 units?) and we still end up throwing a lot of unused insulin away with every pod change. My daughter is 4 yrs old and only uses between 14-17 units a day.
After being on the Pod since April 2010 I really doubt I could live without it. I’d say it’s priceless to me.
Gail,
I’m confused about something you said. You said you have a $5K deductible so I’m “assuming” you have a high deductible plan where you pay out of pocket for everything until you hit $5K in med expenses, right? Mine is like that ($4K deductible). After I hit $4K, everything for the rest of the year is free. If I try to use the Freestyle discount when I’m still meeting my deductible, it’s $50 off the insurance negotiated price for the strips which would be $490 for a 3 mos supply of 600 strips through mail order. It sounds like you have a copay on your strips even when you are meeting your deductible?