Focus on Formulary: How to Save Money On Diabetes Supplies

There is a significant cost associated with taking care of your diabetes. Diabetes educator Veronica Brady discusses how to decrease the cost barriers. 

When you were diagnosed with diabetes you may have been prescribed certain medications. But, often, there's a barrier to getting the medications you need – COST! As you have found out, there is a significant cost associated with taking care of your diabetes. 

In order to be sure that your blood sugars are within target you need to be able to check them—this requires testing supplies. If you are prescribed oral agents or insulin these can also come at an incredible price if you do not have adequate insurance coverage. Furthermore, after obtaining the medications sometimes you need a way to administer them (i.e. syringes or pen needles). Wow!! What’s a person with diabetes to do? 

Never fear. Today we are going to discuss low(er) cost options for testing supplies, pen needles, syringes and medications.

We’ll begin with Diathrive—the site that you come to for information regarding so many aspects of your diabetes care. They can also meet your needs for so much more. 

Diathrive not only offers traditional blood glucose testing supplies at an affordable rate, they also provide other products important for diabetes management, such as insulin pen needles. Through Diathrive, these supplies are often less costly than insurance copays. Take a look at these options:

Diathrive Diabetes Supplies

• Create your own custom subscription plan - Starting at $8/month

• Diathrive Blood Glucose Meter - $10

• Diathrive Glucose Test Strips - bottle of 50 strips - $8

• Lancing Device - $4

• Lancets - box of 100 - $3 (always free with subscription plans)

• Diathrive Insulin Pen Needles - box of 100 multiple sizes available - $9

• Myabetic Diabetes Supply Bags - Starting at $28

• FRIO Insulin Wallets - Starting at $22.95

• Alcohol Prep Pads - box of 100 - $4

GoodRx

Another resource for those who are low on funds or wish to purchase medications outside of your insurance plan is GoodRx. This site offers coupons for various medications and is accepted at a wide variety of pharmacies. Here are some common diabetes medications with pricing information found at GoodRx:

• Biguanide - Metformin

• Sulfonylurea (SU) - Glipizide/Glyburide

• Thiazolidinedione (TZD) / Glitazones - Actos

• Repaglinide (Prandin)

• SGLT-2 Inhibitor - Canagliflozin (Invokana), Dapagliflozin (Farxiga), Empagliflozin (Jardiance)

• DPP-4 Inhibitor (Gliptins) - Januvia, Tradjenta

• GLP-1 RA - Rybelsus, Trulicity, Victoza

• Alpha Glucosidase Inhibitor (AGI) - Acarbose, Miglitol

Walmart (Insulin and Other Prescription Medications)

The next resource that you may not have considered is Walmart. 

Walmart offers Regular (R) and NPH insulin for ~ $26/vial. While you may say that these older insulins are not the best—I recommend their use as opposed to “no insulin at all”. NPH and Regular insulins have been around for a long time and although their performance differs from that of the newer insulins, they can certainly be used to keep blood sugars closer to target range.

Want to see if you qualify for lower-cost insulin first? Here's our Guide to Insulin Savings,

Walmart also offers a variety of prescriptions for $4. 

Conclusion

Remember – When you are looking for low-cost, less expensive medications and supplies, be sure that you are ordering/purchasing from a reputable source. Be sure that the medications and supplies are not expired and that they have been stored properly.

Here’s to money management and cost-effective diabetes care!

Stay well.