Does anyone know where I can find the following:
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a yearly true cost comparison of insulin pump supplies by competitor (i.e., Animas vs. T-Slim vs. Omnipod supplies)
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a yearly true cost comparison of insulin pump supplies to MDI supplies
Thanks,
k
I bet there have been some studies. The real problem is likely to be asking the specific questions, “Cost to Who?” and “Cost in What Circumstances?” Average costs may not be useful at all to a patient in a particular circumstance (insurance, medicare, etc…)
So true Brian. I know on the boards users state that Omnipod is cheap as far as startup cost for the user, but expensive for maintenance costs. On the other hand, Animas, Minimed, and TSlim have expensive startup costs but lower maintenance costs. However, the accountant in me wonders what the breakdown would be to the consumer on a unit cost basis with insurance and usage excluded.
First of all: it’s NOT true that all MDI has the same cost. Lantus vs Levemir, Novolog vs Regular, are very different costs.
Second, the difference in cost will depend on your dosages and the number of shots per day on MDI too.
Third, costs are significantly different by location.
That said:
Minimed’s 530 G system cost $7350, with a four year warantee. That’s $1837.50 per year if you actually use it for all four years AND replace it after four years. Some of that is really CGM cost, but not much.
All of the minimed infusion sets cost $5/per day if you use them as recommended. That’s $1825 per year.
Batteries could set you back a bit more, but I think you could run it on less than $20/year. You might want to purchase extra adhesive for your infusion sets, but let’s assume not.
So before we get to insulins, this pump is costing $3600/per year.
On MDI, pen needles and syringes both cost in the neighborhood of 20-30 cents apiece (in the US). That could be from 40 cents per day up to about $1.80 per day; I think a typical sum is around $1 per day if you don’t reuse syringes or pen needles. That’s about $365 per year.
Now the more tricky part: the cost of the insulin.
On MDI, you take two insulins. If your long acting insulin costs a significantly different amount of money than your short acting, and/or you throw away insulin at the end of every month because it expires before you can use up the vial, then the cost of insulin may be significantly different between MDI and pumping (aside from which using vials instead of pens may save you money).
For instance, if you were using Lantus and Humalog, but only 5 units per day of each, then on a pump you won’t need to buy any more Humalog, and you won’t have to buy Lantus at all, which will save you money.
On the other hand, if you were taking 50 units per day of each, then it comes down to which insulin costs more.
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Jonah -
Thanks for your response. I hear what you are saying, but I think you are misunderstanding my request. You are giving me oranges, and I’m asking for tangerines so to speak. You are giving me information, but not exactly what I’m asking requesting. It’s basically the same general information, but not a cost analysis of the supplies not the DME.
After I sent the post, I found one website that touched on what I am speaking of however I don’t know how up-to-date the information is now cost of insulin pumps | theperfectd™
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It’s been a while since I was on MDI so I don’t remember the exact costs but there was a pretty significant difference in co-pays for me between using the (proprietary) injection pens versus vials-and-syringes. For a while I tried doing a hybrid approach where I did vial & syringe for the Lantus, but stayed with pens for the Novolog because you need to use it throughout the day and toting vials and syringes around = major pain. Others may better tolerate the inconvenience, but the pen-injectors were a necessity for the short-acting insulin as far as I was concerned.
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Hi Kate,
It depends on whether you have insurance or not, if not how much insulin you use etc. but I think a pump is always going to be more. The insulin cost should be similar if you’re paying a copay probably, with my insurance it doesn’t matter what the amount is once my doc prescribes that amount.
Most people on a pump still need mdi supplies in case the pump/inset fails etc. I had a pump copay, at first they said I didn’t and then ended up with a copay of $490 which I put on a monthly payment plan. If I had continued getting my pump supplies from the same company it would have been about $700 per year. Fortunately I shopped around and found another supplier who got them for half the price. I would advise asking the various suppliers to see who can get you the best deal- one supplier got me pen needles with no copay. I think some people here have said their pump and supplies are 100% covered which is amazing.
Thanks meee. Appreciate the response. Kind of information I’m looking for. I’ve heard horror stories from both people on on pumps and miss who even though they have insurance they end up paying out the nose not only deductibles but some items either not being covered or considered as coinsurance.
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Jonah,
I just wanted to let you know, that http://hypertext.com website is very accurate. I am insured, but the prices listed are very much up to date.
Thanks for the information Scott! 
I also remember, because my wife’s aunt, had type 2 and could only test once a day, her doctor wanted twice, so I would find test strips for her, at the lowest price.
Also I looked as i read the website. (Hahaha)
I couldn’t see the website.
I’m not sure why @Scottyd posted the hypertext.com link since all that comes up for me is ads. From the text of his post I think he was referring to the only other link in this thread which was in this post by Kate.
The link she posted was to this article: How Much Do Diabetes Supplies/Medications Cost in The U.S.? It is dated December 1, 2014 and was posted on the site theperfectd which I believe is someone’s WordPress blog.
I am sorry, I didn’t mean for that to be a link. I was just speaking of the website that was mentioned above that. I just gave a quick type of the beginning of the site, and wanted to put the … on, I should have just copied and pasted. (shame on me)
It’s alright. I took a look at the sight . . . I recently got a pump and my insurance cost was about 1/5th less than those listed. I got it all paid at 100% and I still can’t figure out why except the insurance claims give my doctor’s there co pay. I’ve finally met my out of of pocket, so I can see my doctors without copay’s for the rest of the year. Since I had a heart attack in April, I’m having to see all these specialists more often.
My pump/CGM cost is $1000.00us ( DME out of pocket) per calendar year. The next three years I still pay 1000.00 and it covers the infusion sets and any new transmitters needed for the CGM. My CGM sensor cost is less than 3.00 dollars a day and when I first started in 2007 it was about .50 cents (that’s a increase of about 500%). If I was going to 100% fund a CGM I would go with a Dexcom, they have a discount program if you commit to 12 mounts of supply’s (note: you do not have to take all of the supply’s at one time).
Only you can tell what your true cost is going to be. Pumping insulin is the gold standard for insulin therapy…so it’s not cheep.
In the medical world, the better it works the more they charge you for it!
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