Diabetes
Paying for Healthcare: Diabetes
By Sue Meadows
As a diabetic you welll know that you face special healthcare costs, and we don’t mean “special” as in “festive.” Your costs run the gamut both for managing and treating the condition, and for preventing or treating other diabetes-related health issues. Plus, your health insurance is a riskier and higher cost item, since you are more likely to use it, and often.
Costs of Managing and Monitoring. You already know that managing diabetes requires lifestyle changes. How often are you told that diet and exercise are extremely important to control extreme highs and lows in blood sugar? These common sense remedies are not necessarily costly; but they require discipline.
As you probably know from experience, diet and exercise may be just enough to moderate your blood sugar levels, at least for a while, if you’re lucky. But most people need more eventually. Depending on the type and severity of your diabetes you’ve used oral medications that reduce insulin resistance or encourage greater natural insulin production. This often manages diabetes well. Perhaps you already choose to use insulin, by injection or by pump, and alone or in conjunction with oral medications. Fortunately, your costs for medications and syringes for insulin are generally covered by a typical health plan. In the broad world of pharmaceuticals insulin is cheap.
As a diabetic there is one thing you do know: monitoring is the key to keeping diabetes complications at bay. Also, on the cost side, monitoring is an entirely separate cost. Your monitor can have a number of optional features, producing a price range of around $25 to well over $100. Important: monitor manufacturers often give very steep discounts and rebates if you purchase their monitor. Health insurance typically will cover the monitor costs, as well. But what about the test strips, the lancets?
Test strips, lancets, and your pocketbook. The real money issue for monitoring diabetes are your test strips, and not as bad, the lancets. Test strips for most monitors cost about $1 EACH. If you monitor 3 or 4 every day, well that’s excellent for your sugar control. But for your pocketbook? Not so good. Lancets, on the other hand, cost about $.10 each, and perhaps like many you ignore the recommendations and reuse them. Well, over time, lancet costs can – pardon the pun – pierce your budget. Your health plan might cover these test supplies, but a surprising number do not. And, of course, test strip and lancet manufacturers produce them to work with their own monitors. That’s why the monitor itself may be essentially free. The supplies are the ongoing high cost with high profit to the maker.
On top of these costs, your monitoring also requires regular lab blood testing. Standard practice is a blood screening every three months, along with a physician visit to review the results and make any adjustments indicated. Lab costs and physician visit fees are yet another budget item, although health plans often cover most of the costs.
Cost Control for Diabetics. There are ways to rein in the costs of diabetes control and still do everything you need to prevent the onset of complications.
This one you know, ad nauseum, but it’s essential. Eat an appropriate diet that will not spike your blood sugars. Exercise daily.
This one too is shouted from the rooftops: Work with a good primary care physician (PCP) and follow all of his/her recommendations. If you can find a PCP who has a particular interest in diabetes, do so. Shop around.
Choose a lab that is covered by your health plan. The costs of lab tests before discounts can be staggering. This will be a routine charge, so choose carefully.
Get a prescription for a monitor and for test strips and lancets. Your health insurance might then cover these. Read your plan, and then call and ask them. If, after all, you don’t have coverage for the monitor or supplies, comparison shop. Low cost monitors usually don’t keep a record of your blood test results like the more expensive monitors. You will need to write down the results each time. More expensive monitors might be available for little or no cost, since the manufacturer makes most of the money on the supplies needed for the monitor. Choose your monitor after you know how much the test strips and lancets that work with it will cost you out-of-pocket.
Some pharmacy chains make their own diabetic monitoring equipment, and the supplies are cheaper than brand names. Supplies for brand name manufacturers are also often cheaper bought online from a Canadian pharmacy. Look and compare. Choose a Canadian pharmacy that is certified by an outside governmental regulator.
Once you have the monitoring equipment, you know how to use it! You know how to stay on top of your diabetes. Hopefully, this article will help you stay on top of the costs too.
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