Between me and my mom, we have lots of glucometers at home. For the longest time, I used a OneTouch UltraMini. I remember needing to pay a $25 co-pay for test strips so I used my mom’s supply since there was no co-pay for Medicare, and she was using the same glucometer model. More recently, her doctor prescribed a few new meters so we also have an Accu-Chek Aviva and more recently, an Accu-Chek Guide.
All the glucometers are priced really cheap. You can get the Accu-Check Guide for $30. There is a lot of technology in the meter, including Bluetooth connectivity. I found the iOS app that allow you to connect to the meter and download all the readings. It also passes info through to Apple Health so everything can be viewed in one app. I wish Fitbit had that feature built-in.
Obviously these companies makes all their money from supplies, including lancets and test strips. For the Accu-Chek Guide, the lancets cost $18.99 for 102 count, and test strips are $29.99 for 50 count. That comes out to $0.786 per test or $2.36 per day if you test three times a day. That’s not super expensive but it adds up to $860 for an entire year if you buy from the manufacturer. If you had an emergency episode of hypoglycemia like I did and testing your blood sugar eight times a day, it will cost you more.
The cost is more ridiculous for the Aviva. Test strips are $109.99 for 50 count or $2.20 per test without lancing costs. My mom did say that she got the Accu-Chek guide since the pharmacy was not carrying supplies for the Aviva anymore. Maybe they’re trying to move people away from that model. I have two boxes of 100 test strips so that’s like $440 worth?
Life with chronic diseases 