Save money on diabetes care with our tips.
Managing diabetes can be one of the most financially taxing medical conditions, and one you absolutely can’t ignore. Depending on your individual case, there may be unexpected intervention options to help control your blood sugar or reduce the dependence on expensive medications and insulin. Always consult with your doctor before making any changes.
Diet
While this seems incredibly obvious, diet plays a huge role in managing diabetes. Some people find certain foods give them larger blood sugar swings than others, even when they are similar in carbohydrates and sugars. Keeping a food diary may help identify problematic foods so you can avoid them. Carbohydrates and the related fiber can be calculated to find the net carbs of a food item. This calculation is an important tool in managing dietary intake. This handy calculator does all the work for you.
Some people swear by a keto diet for managing blood sugar and weight loss. Keto severely limits carbs and sugars while adding extra fats and protein to your diet. If you love bacon and steak this might be for you. Find out more about a keto diet here.
Supplements
Supplements such as ALA or magnesium may provide some small reduction in blood sugar levels. This review documents existing research and findings for a wide variety of supplements and their role in reducing blood sugar levels.
Testing Supplies
Testing strips and meters can be expensive. Skipping the pharmacy counter or considering generic options may help save your budget. Amazon carries a wide variety of brand and generic test strips. If you opt for generic test strips it is suggested to try a few side-by-side with some of the brand test strips to assure the readings are similar.
When you change to a new brand of meter, or a generic/off-brand meter, doing some side-by-side testing with your old one to understand the accuracy or slight difference in readings is suggested by many people. Test strips can also be found on eBay for less than most drug stores charge. Always check the seller ratings and the expiration date listed for the boxes for sale.
Testing strips and meters do not require a prescription, but you may need one if you want to use your insurance. Some health plans cover meters and testing strips at 100% or with a high enough coverage that the co-pay is reasonable. Other plans end up increasing the price, then leaving you with a co-pay higher than just paying cash for the same supplies elsewhere. It pays to check both your insurance and cash options beyond the pharmacy.
Another popular option is Glucocard, a generic meter, and strips created by Arkray to make diabetes management affordable. These are available online from a variety of sources and at some local pharmacies. The meters are about $10 and a box of 50 strips is under $10.
Insulin
This is a more difficult challenge to find affordable options. Many people only do well on certain types of insulin. Walmart offers a store-branded version of NovoLog insulin starting at $73 a vial cash price. Eli-Lilly offers a discount program for their branded insulins that caps the cost at $35.
If you have Medicare, this new act of Congress caps your out-of-pocket for insulin at $35. If you are not on Medicare, you are still out of luck. Write your Congresspeople, and make them do their jobs, nobody should be going into financial ruin over insulin.
Oral Medications
Oral medications for diabetes vary in cost. Many older ones have generic versions at a much lower cost. These are a drug class where you can find significant savings by shopping around. If you are on one of the newer diabetes medications, shopping around for the best pharmacy price can result in significant savings if your pharmacy copays are percentage based.