Popular Test Strip Brands
Glucose test strips pretty much all work the same way. You simply plug one into the glucose meter brand they are designed for, and place your blood sample on the end of the strip where a tiny sensor is embedded, in order to get a reading. The slight differences in strip brands are found in the amount of blood required, time to result, and cost.
For too many PWDs, diabetes test strips cost too much!
The costs can vary dramatically, and they can add up, especially if you buy them without insurance. Prices change frequently, but to give you an idea of the range, at the time of publication, Amazon showed the following brands at these comparative costs:
Can You Buy Glucose Test Strips Over The Counter
In the United States, glucose test strips are available over the counter at big box stores, independent retail pharmacies, and a lot of websites, including Amazon, eBay, discount pharmaceutical sites like GoodRx, and manufacturers online sites. You can also find them in the so-called gray market .
Which Glucose Meter Has The Cheapest Test Strips
Prodigy test strips for several brands of Prodigy meters, which cost about $.19 per strip, appeared to be the cheapest at the time of our research in August 2021.
But remember that even among the most budget-conscious glucose meters and strips, there are many different features that may factor into your choice of product. See this guide to drugstore brand glucose meters for details.
Read Also: How Can I Get Checked For Diabetes
Glucose Meter Potential Interferences In The Outpatient Setting
A variety of factors can affect glucose meter results . Skill of the user, not the technical specifications of the instruments, is the most significant source of blood glucose errors, especially in outpatient settings. Approximately 9197% of overall inaccuracies are operator dependent., Studies comparing the accuracy of results obtained by a patient against a medical laboratory technician find that patients have substantially poorer performance., The most common reasons for the discrepancies are mechanical stress applied to the strips, failure to clean the site for testing, dirty meters, and sample issues like specimen clots, bubbles, and failure to apply an adequate amount of blood to the test. Recent advances in meter technology have focused on reducing operator interaction. Current meters have eliminated the need to time reactions and wipe test strips before reading results. New meters also require less blood for testing. Data management functions allow meters to store patient results, connect to a computer, and display result graphs and charts.
How Accurate Are The Glucose Test Strips
Various researches have been done on this, and by and large, these strips results are very close to accuracy. Also, there are many factors that can affect the accuracy of the test results done using the glucose test strips. If the strip is damaged, then there is a chance that the result will not be accurate. Also, you need to keep the strips away from moisture, heat, and humidity to ensure that they read your blood sugar level correctly. Before pricking your finger to draw blood, you need to clean your hand carefully, and also, do the test in a clean site in your home. While buying the strips ensure that you choose a strip pack that is compatible with your glucometer. You need to check the details carefully so that you buy the right strips for your machine. Also, insert the strip properly into the glucometer for an accurate reading. You need to change the battery of the machine from time to time to ensure that it functions properly. Also, if you are dehydrated or have low red blood cell count, then also the reading may not be accurate.
So, go online, choose the right glucometer and testing strips to check blood sugar levels at home.
You May Like: Short Term Health Insurance For Diabetics
Ohip+: What Does It Mean For Canadians With Type 1 Diabetes
Great news for Ontario youth! Insulin, diabetes test strips and other prescriptions are now free for Ontarians who are 24 and under.
While we welcome this new measure, we hope it represents only the first step in achieving the goal of universal pharmacare in all provinces.
Many members of the T1D community have reached out to JDRF with questions about how exactly OHIP+ works. So heres everything you need to know about OHIP+ and what it means for Canadians with a type 1 diabetes connection.
Who and whats covered?
OHIP+ covers more than 4,400 drug products for anyone age 24 years or under automatically with an Ontario health card number. This includes insulin and diabetic testing strips for measuring blood sugar.
This table shows the type of treatment and number of test strips covered.
| Patients managing diabetes through diet/lifestyle therapy only | 200 |
If you want more than the maximum quantity, you have to pay for it yourself. Syringes and other diabetic supplies, such as lancets, glucometers, eyeglasses, dentures, hearing aids or compression stockings are not covered by OHIP+.
What if Im a student out of province?
If youre going to university or college in another province, youre still covered as long as you have a valid prescription and get your medications from a pharmacy in Ontario. You may be able to get a larger travel supply before leaving Ontario.
What other choices do I have?
Why 24 and under?
Whats the big deal?
My Goal Is To Develop A Universal Glucose Meter That Is:
- Completely open design forhardware and software .
- That is able to be built fromeasily sourcable components. .
- Is not tied to a single brand oftest strips .
- Ability to select the specific brand and type of strip.
- Ability to calibrate meter to different manufactured lots of test strips using DIY glucose solutions to ensure accuracy and calibration.
- Ability to update firmware to addmore strip profiles or additional features.
- Be extensible – act as a platform for others to build on and add features.
- Ultimately I want to help makeblood glucose monitoring as accessible and inexpensive as possible.
- Inspire others to develop otheropen source / open hardware methods of blood glucose measurementthat free diabetics from having to buy and use, proprietary,disposable, test-strips.
- This project aims to be a steppingstone toward the development of an inexpensive, open source, methodof reliably tracking blood glucose that can, ultimately, improve thelives of the millions of diabetics worldwide.
You May Like: Non Insulin Injections For Type 2 Diabetes
How To Properly Perform A Blood Test
Due to the differences in design for all the blood glucose testing product brands, it is best to follow the specific instructions provided for your blood glucometer and test strips. However, for the new diabetes patients, we have provided a list of general guidelines for proper testing blood sugar procedure and practice.
Why Are The Strips So Expensive And Why The Price Discrepancy
If you think of how many test strips you go through each day, you will understand that these little test strips create a huge business. At the same time, you must wonder why these test strips are so expensive. Just in 2013, Roche United States made $463 million profit on blood glucose products.
And thats just one manufacturer in the United States. Estimated that the most glucose test strips take no more than 15 cents to produce, the manufacturers seem to acquire 70 to 80% of the profit. Just by looking at the numbers, you may think that the pharmaceutical companies are blood suckers. However, there are few factors to consider.
The first being how much research is done by the company to perfect the production of these test strips. As explained earlier, every layer of the test strips is crucial to the final outcome of your blood glucose analysis. In order to maintain the accuracy of the test strips, how much blood is allowed to penetrate through the absorbent layer has to be exact. Too much blood may overload the layers and fry the circuit insufficient blood will create a faulty reading. As for the enzyme layer, the exact ratio of each chemical needs to be calculated and formulated to create the most accurate reading yet remain active until its expiration date.
I recommend these following articles:
Read Also: How Do You Know Have Diabetes
How To Find Out If Glucose Monitor And Test Strips Are Accurate
After reading about all the factors that will affect your test result, you may wonder how you can make sure that your glucose monitor and test strips are accurate. It is quite simple. Most glucose monitor comes with a standardized test solution. You can test the accuracy of your glucometer by squeezing a droplet of this solution onto a test strip and putting it into your monitor.
You would go through the same process as you would with your blood sample. After the monitor takes the reading, you can compare the reading with the amount printed on the solution bottle. If the two numbers match, that means your glucose monitor is functioning properly. You should use the test solution every time you open a new box of test strips to verify the quality and accuracy of the products.
Everything You Need To Know About Diabetes Test Strips
Blood glucose test strips play a crucial role in helping you to monitor your daily blood glucose level and giving your doctor the data to adjust your medication to control your diabetes symptoms. Without the help from these little disposable strips, life with diabetes can become even more chaotic than ever.
But what exactly are these thin little plastic slip and why are they so expensive? Are there any alternative method I can use? Where can I get the best deal on these test strips? This article will answer many of your questions and concerns regarding these blood glucose test strips:
| Questions? |
Recommended Reading: Pain Medicine For Diabetic Neuropathy
How Do I Afford My Test Strips
You have other options. If you can not find free test strips, you can get short-dated test strips. Short-dated test strips are 90% off retail prices. You can even get name brand test strips for less than $5. You can save hundreds of dollars a month by buying short-dated test strips. Several studies have found that short-dated test strips are just as accurate as test strips with a year until expiration.
If you need longer dated test strips, some manufacturers will exchange your expired test strips for a fresh box. They do keep your information on file and will only provide you with one box of free test strips.
At Glucomart you can find very inexpensive name brand test strips at very low prices. Visit our store today and start saving.
About CA
Use Universal Lancets To Save Money
One way to save money on your diabetic lancets is to stop buying brand name lancets. It seems that most lancets are made fairly in the same way. They do the same job they lance your fingers.
Most brand name lancets share the same features as universal lancets although some brand lancets have additional features which rely on their compatible lancing device. In fact, its the lancing device that makes the difference, not the lancets. Universal, generic lancets are often as sharp, thin, and easy-to-use as brand name lancets.
Universal Lancets at Diabetic Outlet
Try them for yourself
The key is to find the universal lancet that fits you. Simply try them and see which one works for you. Because universal lancets are often much more affordable than brand lancets, you can try different brand to figure out which one works best for you.
Also Check: How Much Sugar Can A Type 2 Diabetic Have
Blood Glucose Test Strips Prices
When comparing prices of blood glucose strips, we considered the cost of 100-count packages, which fall between $10 and $100.
Inexpensive: At the low end of the price range, you can expect to spend between $10 and $30, which includes some test strips with no-coding technology.
Mid-range: These test strips cost between $30 and $60 have improved accuracy and incorporate an abundance of convenience features.
Expensive: At the high end of the range, between $60 and $100 and sometimes more, you can expect advanced features, including extended time frames for reapplication. Some of these more expensive test strips require the least amount of blood for a sample, too.
Importance Of Blood Glucose Testing
At one time, patients monitored their glucose status byplacing test strips or tablets in a urine sample. These products wereunreliable and did not give a good indication of the actual amount ofglucose in the blood. Eventually, blood glucose meters became available,and these devices rapidly replaced the old urine tests to become thestandard method of glucose testing. In fact, self-monitoring of blood glucose is used by virtually all patients with diabetes today. When itis done correctly, the results are so reliable that patients can usethem to adjust their insulin, other medications, diet, and exercise.
Don’t Miss: Herbal Medicine For Diabetes In The Philippines
How Will I Know If The Control Solution Test Passed
Once you have the result from the glucose control solution test, the next step is to compare the number shown on your meter to the range specified by the manufacturer, printed on the test strip vial. The number shown on the meter should fall within the range. It is important to remember that results from control solution tests are unrelated to blood glucose levels and do not reflect your bodys blood glucose concentration.
A range for control solution results rather than a single number is provided because no two tests will be exactly the same. Manufacturers anticipate the possible variations from test to test and therefore provide an expected range.
If you find that a control solution result does not fall within the range printed on the test strip vial, you should contact the manufacturer of your meter to determine if additional troubleshooting or replacement supplies are needed.
Blood Glucose Meter Compatibility With Lancets And Test Strips
BLOOD GLUCOSE METER COMPATIBILITY WITH TEST STRIPS
| BLOOD GLUCOSE METER COMPATIBILITY WITH TEST STRIPS | |
|---|---|
| Company | |
| Precision Xtra, Precision Xtra Blood Bketone | |
| ARKRAY | Glucocard 01 Sensor Plus Test Strips |
| Glucocard Expression | |
| PRODIGY DIABETES CARE | Prodigy No Coding Test Strips |
| Prodigy Pocket |
This article originally appeared on MPR
Don’t Miss: Diabetes Kidney Failure Life Expectancy
Why Must Diabetic Patients Use Glucometer And Test Strips
As much as we would love to do without the pain and the blood, monitoring your blood glucose level is crucial to controlling your diabetes. If uncontrolled, the chronic condition can lead to a variety of serious life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, and limb amputation. If you are trying to save money by skipping on blood test, think of the consequences when your diabetes causes a complication that require much more expensive medication and treatment.
And in extreme cases, a trip to the emergency room due to sudden heart attack or stroke is required. Any of these consequences will cost much more than the money you save from test strips. Instead, you should think of blood glucose testing as the small token for getting a healthier life. Also, blood glucose tests will take out the stress and confusion when it comes to treating diabetes. By knowing whether your blood glucose level is in the proper range, you can act according to your current condition without guessing what may happen next.
If you truly wish to save money, knowing when to test your blood glucose level, learning how to use your test strips effectively to avoid wastage, and being vigilant with changing your unhealthy eating habits are the ways to solve the problem.
How Often Should You Administer A Blood Glucose Test
If you are unsure how frequent you should administer a blood glucose test, it is contingent on what diabetes type you have and which treatments you use .
Are Blood Glucose Test Strips Covered By Insurance
Test strips are covered by most commercial insurers, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. According to survey data provided to DiabetesMine by the diabetes research firm dQ& A, most PWDs do get their test strips through health insurance 82 percent of people with type 1 diabetes, and 76 percent of those with type 2 to be exact.
But even with this coverage, test strips can often be very pricey.
For one thing, if you have a high deductible health plan, you still might need to pay over-the-counter prices for supplies until you meet the deductible. However, you could catch a break if you have a health savings account , as the Treasury Department recently said that diabetes supplies and insulin would be covered in high deductible plans for people who have HSAs.
Also, your insurance might not cover the brand of test strips that you want. Many insurance plans put specific preferred brands of meters and test strips in their top formulary tiers. That means brands not in those tiered lists will cost much more.
This can be a problem for PWDs who need specific meters that transmit readings to their insulin pumps, or who switch insurance plans and dont like the meters and strips covered by their new plans.
You May Like: How To Cure Early Signs Of Diabetes