Okay, so it’s not a big secret that I was diagnosed w/ Type II Diabetes a while back. Since then I’ve learned a lot about the disease and I’m more confident today than ever before that I’m going to beat this disease and one day no longer be a diabetic because unlike Type I Diabetics, my Pancreas isn’t “completely dead”, it’s just “stupid” (wow, talk about lack of a better group of words). Anyway, those of you that have been following my journey on this medical makeover are probably already aware of my struggles so I’ll spare you all of the details, for those of you that are not, I recommend checking out my previous posts here.
The purpose of this post is to share something that a lot of you might not be aware of. As a diabetic you are encouraged to check your blood sugar about 3 times a day, for a total of 90 times a month. Each time you test you use a new test strip. A 100 strip package for my current meter, the Accu-Chek Nano can retail for about $160. Insurance doesn’t cover this cost, it’s 100% out of pocket. For those on federally funded programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., they are a lot more fortunate and they have up to 60 strips or 120 strips covered if they have a prescription from their doctors. Getting the prescription is not a problem for any of us, unfortunately most insurance providers will not cover the costs of testing strips (as I have found out first hand). So, I’m basically out $160 a month on testing supplies. (see example of retail site offering discounted prices for my testing strips). If this wasn’t hard enough to digest in itself for someone recently diagnosed w/ diabetes, the part that has my head spinning is that manufacturers of these testing strips are getting… brace yourself… you are not going to believe this… they are getting 900% markup on these testing strips!!! That’s right, 900% markup.
Again, this is of little concern for those that are on federal assistance, and I’m not knocking those people so don’t get me wrong. But the rest of us that are walking around w/ diabetes and don’t have federal assistance are paying out the wazoo for these strips. And, let me be honest. I understand business, and I don’t fault anyone from trying to take advantage of government programs to make a living (to a point), but where I do have a problem is seeing ordinary people like myself trying to make a living having to pay an arm and a leg for something that’s being marked up 900 freaking percent.
Oh, and get this… The number of Americans with diagnosed diabetes is projected to increase 165%, from 11 million in 2000 (prevalence of 4.0%) to 29 million in 2050 (prevalence of 7.2%). The largest percent increase in diagnosed diabetes will be among those aged > or =75 years (+271% in women and +437% in men). The fastest growing ethnic group with diagnosed diabetes is expected to be black males (+363% from 2000-2050), with black females (+217%), white males (+148%), and white females (+107%) following. — so you can see, this is the BIGGEST CASH COW INDUSTRY that’s floating under the radar and no one is talking about it.
Pretty crazy stuff. I just felt compelled to share… well, to not only share this atrocity but to also let all of you that follow my blog know that I’m going to be coming back in the coming months with some exciting news. Nothing I can talk about right now, everything is still in the planning stages but trust me, it’s going to open some eyes!!
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