I recently bought a new meter and got a prescription for the test stips. However, my doctors office didn't write the prescription correctly and I won't be able to talk to them until tomorrow. Until then I have a few quesions...
1) For those of you that use health insurance to cover your test strips: How many strips will your insurance company allow you to have (max amount)? When I called Blue Cross they were not able to tell me an amount per month that I would be approved for. I have a feeling the person I spoke with didn't know a whole lot about the things I was asking.
2) What is your co-pay for your test strips? I thought mine seemed high and want to see what other folks are paying. The co-pay for my test strips are higher than the co-pay for my insulin.
My prescription is written to test 8-10 times per day (before & after 3 meals per day, upon waking, before sleep & 2 other times on days that I exercise, drive long distances, or not feeling well, whatever else comes up). Is this something that seems reasonable to get my insurance to cover (300 strips per month)? I'm getting concerned that I'm going to have a difficult time getting what I need.
I've read various threads here about this topic and test strip coverage can vary. My doctor writes a prescription for me to test 16 times per day. I found that my insurance likes a prescription that specifies an exact number per day instead of a range. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and they send me 1400 strips for 90 days. I pay a copay of about $80 but that covers a 90 supply of insulin too.
I understand that most plans will provide more strips for T1D's than T2D's. Medicare is rolling out a plan that reduces the number of strips that it will provide to Medicare beneficiaries. Unfortunately, Medicare policy usually has some effect on private insurance coverage. Ironically, one recent study showed that more testing translated to better outcomes.
I suspect that the reason your insurance company phone reps could not answer your quantity question was because they have no firm policy on an absolute limit. A prescription that specifies testing 10 times per day seems very reasonable per your list of testing situations. I would add that you need to test more frequently if you want to verify the post meal effects of different meals (1, 2, and 4 hours post-meal). I'll always test again if I have any reason to doubt an initial reading. And I often test two times to calibrate my CGM.
My feeling is "more is better." I would not be shy about asking your doctor and insurance company for a generous supply of strips. Be aware that the insurance company wants to prevent a patient from using their supply to sell on the internet. I always bring my meter to my doctor's office for download so that my doctor can verify and feel comfortable with the quantity that I test.
I am type 2 and I get 600 for 90 day supply at 7 dollars. I have Aetna ppo. I do try to get the best insurance the company offers. I think prescription cost changes per tier.
My insurance (BCBS) doesn't cover my brand of test strips at all (I use the OmniPod, which uses FreeStyle strips). So I have been paying insane amounts for strips, and I test often. I saw a post on the Diabetes Mine blog mentioning that Walmart sells a box of 50 strips for $9-- their own brand, ReliOn.
I just ordered some strips and the matching meter (only about $16) and plan to use those as much as possible. I figure I can save the "good" strips for when I'm at work or out and about and use the Walmart strips at home. They actually have pretty good reviews from what I found.
Thought this could be helpful-- I wish I had known about these strips sooner myself!
My copayment is 22.50 per 30 day supply for their “preferred” strips which are onetouch and accucheck I think. That doesn’t change whether the doctor writes that a 30 day supply is 30 strips or 500. They have never challenged me on the number. Currently I get 300 a month but I have gotten 400 before. I decided I like the generic truetest strips better, and a 30 day supply of them costs me 15 dollars. I have Cigna insurance with the Caremark prescription coverage. Coverage will vary depending on the specifics of your plan which can varies even with the same insurer
When I used accuchek I paid $40 for a three month supply which is whatever the doctor says it is; in my case 900 strips (10 per day). I now use the One Touch because it is the meter remote for my Ping pump. Unfortunately it is not a preferred brand for my insurance so I pay $100 for three months which is an "ouch"!
I counted once and came up with a dozen. I think my RX may be for 13 or 14. It seems to vary?
• wake up, test bg 2) before eating test BG 3) before driving to work test bg 4) 2 hours after eating test bg 5) lunch test BG 6) 2 hours post lunch test bg 7) drive home test BG 8) get home, run 3 miles...oh wait, don't forget to test your bg! 9) post-exercise maybe, maybe not, maybe eat dinner and, you guessed it, test BG 10) 2 hours post dinner, test BG ****AGAIN**** 12) stay up late? Maybe squeeze in another one, what if you have errands to run, what if you want to exercise more (when it's nicer out, I'll run 6-7 miles during the week, more on the weekends...a lot of times, I'll run a long run on Saturday and then a 20ish mile bike ride for fun, speed and recovery on Sunday...there's several extra strips in there...). Even if I'm not exercising, I tend to be naturally curious to see if my CGM and meter are performing as accurately as they can together and would want to test about that much.
Thanks for the input. I wish my insurance company had been more helpful when I spoke to them about tiers and the different Contour strips. They couldn't tell me so I just choose the Contour meter that I thought was best for me and my personal use. The meter that I ended up with happens to have a lower retail cost so I hope this may mean a lower co-pay. (Fingers crossed).
Thanks for the input. I actually have that ReliOn meter now. I've gotten negative feedback from many healthcare professionals when I told them that was the meter I was using. I was using it because of the cost- so I could afford to pay out of pocket and not have to worry about being approved by an insurance company for the amount of strips I need.
Since I've gotten my new Bayer meter I've tested side by side with the ReliOn meter and the Relion meter is consistently reading 5-10 higher than the Bayer meter. Last time I had bloodwork done my fasting BG was 73 on the Relion Meter but my blood work showed 64. So it looks like the Bayer meter is more accurate. I hope to be able to contine with the Bayer meter and keep the ReliOn has a back up.
That's so great that they have never challenged you on the amount. I hope that ends up being the case with me also. When I called my insurer they told me $55 co-pay for a 30 day supply. This is more than my insulin which I think is funny (a sarcastic kind of funny).
I too have Anthem Blue Cross. I remember when I returned to the country, my doctor wasn't sure how many he could write it for. I came on here and some people said they had their doctors had written over ride letters if they needed more than their insurance typically allowed. I don't remember for sure but I think he just wrote it for the 900 for 3 months and they accepted it. I since have a new doctor (yeah, I move a lot) and I just told him the 900 and he wrote it. No problems.
