Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
Related Stories
17 Comments
How much have you spent (deductible, copay, out-of-pocket) on all of your diabetes supplies in the past three months? Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Can’t forget to factor in healthcare premiums (or taxes if using gov’t funded healthcare system.) That gets complicated too, how much of that goes toward the negotiated or fully funded prices for these supplies and how much for other things? No matter how you cut it, diabetes ain’t cheap though.
I have a $3500 deductible/max out-of pocket. Since I use both pump and CGM, I usually meet that in the first quarter or shortly thereafter. Then I pay $0.
I am on Medicare RX for insulin through Cigna but this plan designed for diabetics is
I am on a supplement with Medicare which is Anthem Blue Cross, about $220 a month. It covers CGM supplies and what Medicare doesn’t cover for Dr. visits. I am also on Cigna RX plan which has diabetics in mind on their highest plan which is about a $50 monthly premium. The premiums are my biggest monthly cost and yearly cost is presently $3,240. Premiums increase with age too. When I hit the donut hole, it is a different story of coverage too. Medical costs keep going up and I am old enough to remember the pediatrician Dr. coming to our home because Mothers in the 50s didn’t have transportationian. The Dr. would leave a bottle of medicine on the counter and say “split this between the children”.
While it may be unfair to lump all my health insurance costs (I excluded my wife’s premiums), into “diabetic related,” many of the high-priced consultants I employ, with few exceptions, are because of and driven by the underlying diabetic condition. Therefore the $3,000+ calculation was arrived at as follows:
CVS out of pocket yearly expense $1,303
Medicare yearly premium $1,872
Private insurance yearly expense $8,196
Private insurance dental premium $672
Summation = $12,043. Divide by 4 for a 3-month estimate of $3,011
I have a secondary insurance that picks up any balances not paid by primary. So, I pay nothing except primary premiums.
You left out “coinsurance” charges. Even with “good” coverage DME prices keep increasing.
With Medicare and a supplement, I pay nothing out of pocket for Libre. Also have a zero copay for insulin through Cigna Part D plan.
I seem to average about $800/month. That’s for insulin, test strips, pump supplies and Dexcom G6.
I live in Canada so all doctor visits are covered but that’s it.
I still haven’t figured out my insurance coverage. Now that I am in the Part D “gap”, I pay more for pump supplies, test strips and insulin, which I was under the impression fell under Durable Medical Equipment, not Part D. I’m told it is because my insurance is an HMO.
The only thing I have to contribute to is glucagon. It costs me around twenty.
My answer $1001 – 1500 included a glucagon kit and backup insulin pens for use if pump fails (again).
I pay a lot for health insurance which I guess doesn’t count for this question. All I have to pay for is insulin $40 for 90 days so 13.25 per month. DME; i.e., CGM, Pods, test strips covered at 100%.
I don’t pay anything (Greece). Everything is covered by the National Health System. All employers and employees contribute to this system with the 20% of the salary (13% Employers, 7% employees)
In the last 3 months costs went over $1000, because I bought a $600 iPhone that would be compatible with the Dexcom 6 app. But the Dexcom monitor is so easy to use, I rather regret paying for all the expensive unneeded Apple iPhone’s other bells & whistles. The cheap flip phone I was originally using alerted me far better to incoming calls than the much more expensive iPhone. In the last 3 months I started using the CGM which will add $50 to $100 per month. Eyeglasses and hearing aids are not covered by my Medicare plan. But a recent state law limits cost of insulin vials so my copay for glargine + lispro is $90/28 days. I save $ by using syringes over and over till the needle bends, seldom change lancets. There’s a copay for foot care every 3 months.
Hi Wannacure, I was surprised to read that you were reusing needles until the needle bends and that you don’t replace lancets when checking your sugar via glucose meter. Are you boiling the needles or using rubbing alcohol topically? Everything I’ve read and heard cites the likely chance of infection, when reusing needles.
Tom
Catch me next year. I just bought a new pump at the beginning of 2021…..supplies are usually $700 deductible, $200 every 3months for supplies.