Website for Diabetic Supplies

1

All,

Some of you know that I have been without insurance on my new job. This will be over in September, thank God!

Until then, my doctor has given me vials of insulin until I am able to afford my pump supplies again. But, he was unable to give me testing strips for my OneTouch Ultra Meter.

While looking for cheap/discount supplies on the internet this weekend, I ran across a site called www.healthwarehouse.com. Usually when I buy testing strips for my meter, they are roughly $1.00 per strip and I buy the retail packs that have 100 in the box. Testing at least 4 times a day - this gets expensive.

On the healthwarehouse.com website, I found a box of 50 strips for around $29.00 - so I ordered two of them and ended up getting 100 strips for about $60 - and they offer free ground shipping.

The site is very basic, but it serves its purpose. They even had insulin on there, though I didn’t look at prices and because I thought you had to have a prescription to buy insulin. But, the site is ranked by Amazon and some online pharmacy association, so it seems legit. They also had syringes and meters and other items.

Just an FYI in case you need cheaper supplies!

2

Thank you for sharing … you never know when you would be in that situation without insurance - scary! I’m glad that you’ve been able to manage and that it will be over for you in September.

3

No problem - my first thought was that I have to share this with all my tudiabetes folks!

I will be soo glad when this is over and I can get back on my pump!

4

Thanks for sharing! I’ve always found www.Hocks.com to be one of the best places to go for test strips. Since my insurance changed a couple of years ago, I have no reason to go to them anymore, but I used to buy a ton of strips from them.

They often give you discounts and coupon-codes in addition to the prices you see on the web site. Plus, if you’re quick enough, they’ll give you, for free, samples that they receive from manufacturers (usually non-diabetes related products) if you add them to your order. And for orders over a certain amount (which test strips always are), shipping is free. Right now, boxes of 50 are $36 apiece if you buy 3 or more for Onetouch Ultra. Other brands are cheaper.

I’ve had lots of good experiences with them.

5

Just to let everyone, who doesn’t know already …

at Walmart, you can get ReliOn Insulins (It’s really Novolin, just been cobranded with Walmart’s ReliOn logo as well as the Novolin logo) for $21.95. They offer N, R and 70/30. I’ve been buying it there since I was put on insulin a year and a half ago. Also, they sell their ReliOn brand of insulin syringes. All your regular sizes. I buy the 31 guage 5/16" .30cc (30 unit) syringes, and I think they’re 12.95, for a box of 100. Their alcohol pads are cheap too, I forget how much, but, they are rather thin! But, for what their used for, they serve the purpose. Their test strips ain’t cheap though!!

Although, another place strips can be bought at a good price is eBay (best prices I’ve found, are for the Contour and One Touch Ultra strips). I have bought them through there, for a good long while now. Just gotta make sure you’re not getting outdated strips, and make sure the seller is reputable.

For other meds, that may not be on the $4 program at Walmart, check out http://rxoutreach.com. I used this place for my meds for about a year and a half, then swithced to Walmart, when they came out with their $4 plan. Only reason I switched, is because it was cheaper at Walmart. But, should I need a med that’s not on the $4 plan, you bet, in an instant, I will go to Rx Outreach! They offer a 90 day supply of the meds they offer, for either $20, $30 or $40, depending upon what “tier” drugs they are. The people are so friendly. Their service was always quick.

I don’t have insurance. Haven’t had it since I was dx’ed three years ago. (I actually haven’t had insurance for about 10 years now!) So I’ve found all the ways I can to save as much as I can.

Hope this helps somebody! :0)

6

I have insurance but it doesn’t cover the cost of the strips. They only cover a certain meter and the strips for that meter. The OneTouch system came highly recommended from several people, so I decided to absorb the costs myself.

I also recommend Health Warehouse. I discovered them by accident shortly after spending $53 on 50 OneTouch Ultra strips. Our local drug store had raised the price yet again and I searched Amazon.com on a lark. I found their prices to be the least expensive by far. To date I have placed several orders. Everything has shipped quickly, no problems at all.

I recently received a Merchant Review request from Amazon re: Health Warehouse. I was surprised that after sending a positive review the Director of Sales and Marketing sent me a coupon code to share with friends and family. I don’t know if it expires, but it is for 10% off any order at www.HealthWarehouse.com The code is “RAMZ02”. I haven’t used it myself, let me know if it does or doesn’t work.

BTW, just to be clear, I am NOT an employee of nor do I know anyone (friends or family) working at Health Warehouse!

7

FYI…in most states (it could be all), you do NOT have to have a prescription to get insulin. That has come in handy twice for me when traveling. One, when I left mine at home and had to buy it otc in Oregon. The second time, when my pump went out while in Idaho, and I had to buy some lantus. Both times I bought insulin without any trouble whatsoever.

8

Nope, and not for needles either.

9

Debb,

Wal-Mart has their strips in the Pharmacy section , OTC in a case ~ not sure if all WM’s do but this sure comes in handy after hours.

10

You found some nice pharmacists, because Lantus definitely does require a prescription in all 50 states. So do Humalog, Novolog, Apidra and Levemir and any mixes containing any of those insulins.

You do not need a prescription for Regular & NPH or mixes containing those insulins.

11

This varies from state to state. There are 8-9 states that require prescriptions for syringes and it is illegal for a pharmacist to dispense them without one. Of course, there will always be pharmacists who realize you’re not a junkie and will sell them, but it is still illegal. Most of the other states leave it up to the pharmacist. Some will require some kind of proof that you need them (such as showing them your vial of insulin, or your pump that just died) and some will have you sign for them. Some will limit the buyer to 10 syringes at a time.

12

You don’t need a prescription for test strips if you’re paying for them but if you want insurance to pay, you do. I get a prescription for mine because I only have to pay my $10/month co-pay. If I just went in to buy them I’d be paying close to $400.

13

Thanks for the update on this. The first time I bought in OR was for regular during my early diagnosis days before my pump. I must’ve given a good sob story the second time though, because there was no hesitation:) Do you know why the difference?

14

I believe that when Banting & Best discovered insulin, they gave the patent away so that it would be easy for every diabetic to obtain it. They also said that it had to be available without a prescription. I’m oversimplifying and not remembering all of the details, but basically that’s it. So Regular, NPH, Lente, Ultralente, animal insulins were all always available OTC at any pharmacy.

When they started making the newer insulins like Humalog, they got away with making them prescription only because they say they’re not true insulin, they’re insulin analogues. Therefore it doesn’t have to abide by the OTC rule and they can charge a fortune for them. I think it’s ridiculous that the newer insulins require prescriptions and the older ones don’t. It means that people who lose their insurance and can’t even afford to see a doctor on a regular basis have a limited choice. They don’t even make Lente & UL anymore, or animal insulins so either R + NPH only. Not much of a choice.

My mother used to work in a pharmacy and when I switched to Humalog her boss would give it to me whenever I needed it. I know I did have a prescription at some point but since insurance didn’t cover anything I had to pay, so he didn’t care about having the script on file.