Why did transmitters get so cheap?

A Dexcom transmitter used to be $1,000.

Why am I paying so much less, now?

I feel like when I ordered thru a distributor it was $1,000. Did this all get cheaper because Walgreens got some deal? Because more people started using the tech? Did everything get cheaper with this newer model? They started reclassifying stuff from “durable medical” to “nondurable medical equipment,” in some cases.

Can anyone explain?

They never really cost that. That’s one of those crazy insurance-inflated prices so they can play games with overcharging patients and rebates.

I paid cash until I finally got insurance coverage for them a few years ago. Even back in 2018, Dexcom’s cash price for transmitters was $300 and change (don’t remember exactly what they quoted), and they could be found at Sam’s Club and Costco for about $125. That’s what I paid at Sam’s with the Plus level membership discount.

It was always the sensor cost that hurt me, not the transmitters.

They’ve been $45-65ish for quite a while now. Pretty much since the G7 was released in the US. I’ve got a receipt from July 2023 for one that was $45, plus shipping.

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Although my insurance before Medicare claimed that transmitters cost $1250 in 2019, they also claimed that they “negotiated” this down to $475 and I was “only” responsible for 10% of that. But the price at multiple other vendors that my insurance wouldn’t permit me to use was under $300. Clearly they were lying about the price (and their negotiating skills) to make my “10%” as large as possible.

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I did just a little work to help out with the “supply redistribution” team at my new endo’s office, a volunteer effort to help those who need basic supply items.

The one thing we have too many of, is G6 transmitters. What happens is that every user gets 1 transmitter per 9 sensors, but the users only actually need 1 transmitter per 10 sensors. As a result there is a real surplus of transmitters.

It turns out Steve Martin did a documentary explaining the problem you’d appreciate! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N0lMiKIwXg

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My insurance covers my CGM costs. I am still using G6 and have tried to accumlate some extra sensors for an emergency supply problem (weather, earthquake etc). I sometimes restart a sensor, since my body seems to have no problem with accuracy up to 20 days. But I also want to stockpile a few G6 transmitters and found a pharmacy in Canada selling them for just over US $30.

When I switch to G7. I plan to continue using my stockpile of G6 sensors and transmitters as I build up a stockpile of G7 devices. I do not expect to be able to restart G7.

@spdif figured out in an unrelated post.
We have a new state law that implements copay caps of diabetes hardware.

It was Rep Howard. I remember when he was a junior House member. They said he would never last re-election. Intereting.