My husband, age 39, just had a heart attack last Tuesday. Upon recovery, we were informed that he is a diabetic as well. We have been given a meter, called OneTouch Ultra 2. The meter was free, but the stips are costing us a fortune. Does anyone know of another brand of strips that are more economic that will fit this meter? Our insurance will not cover the cost of the strips. Thanks!
2006-06-17 14:00:06 · 21 answers · asked by Lovemyfamily 3 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Diabetes
Check with the company who makes the meter. Some of them have programs that will help you pay for strips or even give them to you. Also ask at your local clinic & doctor's office to see if they know of any programs to help pay for the supplies.
2006-06-21 05:43:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I have seen some "generic" store brand meters at Walgreen's and other drug store chains that may have slightly cheaper strips, but I can't vouch for the quality.
Edit: I just found this answer in a LiveJournal Diabetic community and thought I'd pass it along:
The TrueTrack Smart System (made by Home Diagnostics, resold by almost every drug store under a different label) seems like what you're looking for.
I picked up mine at Walgreens for I think $18, and the strips are about $40 for 100 strips. It uses capillary action to pick up the blood, doesn't need a huge amount (and you can visually see whether you gave it enough), and gives a reading in 10 seconds... and, it's not too massively huge or anything. It uses a "chip in a cartridge" for coding, a new chip comes with each vial (or pair of vials if you buy 100 at a time) and you just snap it into the slot, throwing away the old chip.
And it has a fairly long memory, and has an (undocumented) download port, which I just bet would work with just about any standard download cable.
All in all you can't beat it, I think... (and I know Target carries it too, I've bought strips there plenty of times.)
2006-06-17 15:59:01 · answer #2 · answered by neanah_e 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-05-18 19:19:21 · answer #3 · answered by Wendy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-09-17 03:25:12 · answer #4 · answered by Elaine 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been a type 1 diabetic for 39 years and since glucose meters came out, I've used One Touch meters because all the hospitals I've been in used a hospital version. I've never found a different strip but the machine can save his life or at least extend it. He should keep his BS between 149 and 100 as much as possible. For years I had mine averaging at 110. My doctor of internal medicine asked if I was sure I was diabetic. I blame my One Touch for my excellent control. I never used the new one your hubby has, I have an Ultra Smart. Download the software for the meter from the company and you have to buy a patch cord to download the information from the meter but it's worth it.
2006-06-17 15:22:51 · answer #5 · answered by jayjay5844 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have your doctor approach the insurance company. What good are the meters if you can't use the strips. I think most insurances give you the strips at almost nothing but charge for the lancets. What kind of insurance do you have? I had trouble getting the correct amount of blood drawn when I first started using my One Touch, wasted lots of strips........Good luck........I've got type 2 but I'm borderline so mine is controllable by diet but I still have to check it once or twice a day just a a precaution because I'm not on meds yet. Now that he knows, he'll soon be able to read his body messages to know when he's high or low.
2006-06-17 14:11:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best thing to do is to ask your insurance company which strips are on your formulary list. There must be some that are on it. If none at all are on it, (Which is hard to believe. The rep should help you!) the best thing I can tell you is that the Walgreen's brand are the least expensive that I have seen. Even though the Walgreen's brand monitors are not as fancy, they are accurate. By the way strips are made to fit the monitor so you will have to get a new monitor to go with the strips on your formulary.
Sorry to hear about your husband's troubles.
2006-06-17 19:46:59 · answer #7 · answered by beckini 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you call your insurance and ask about a meter and strips, some will tell you which they will pay for. If that happens then you can go get a meter and strips and lancets and the only thing you will have to pay for is the meter. Sorry to say but i have only heard of one kind of strips fitting that meter. Good luck .
2006-06-22 14:01:48 · answer #8 · answered by Renee B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've found that the store brand meters are good enough. They are not too pricy for the meter itself, and the strips are about $10-20 cheaper for the same number. The only drawbacks are that they usually require more blood, don't have all the bells and whistles, and occasionally are slightly less accurate then the name brands. Upside though is a ballpark figure for BS at slightly less cost.
2006-06-22 07:24:08 · answer #9 · answered by J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although the One Touch system is wonderful, you do need perscription coverage for strips. If you can't get that, then you should get a generic brand meter. You can buy them at your local pharamacy, and the strips should be about 1/5 the cost of the One Touch. The meter isn't as fancy, but it works just as well.
I hope your husband feels better.
2006-06-17 15:52:56 · answer #10 · answered by magicwriter65 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have the Freestyle and when I run out of strips and don't have the money to buy them I use the walmart brand. I've checked it out and it works just the same as the more expensive one. The strips are half the price something like $20 for 50 as opposed to $40-$50 For 50.
2006-06-18 02:31:21 · answer #11 · answered by Ms. Nita 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋