expensive?
i keep hearing from alot of people about how its so expensive having
diabetes. no it isnt. not when you have fantastic insurance. i picked
up 200 test strips today that would normally be 177 dollars. i only
paid 25 bucks. i walked into the doctors today, and walked out. i
paid nothing. out of that 13,600 hospital bill, i might pay about
500. my insurance covers all of this. i dont even pay anything for
the insurance!
robby
April 4th, 2005 at 11:57 am
That’s great for you Robby, not all of us have it that cheap or easy.
dont you have health insurance? do you have to pay for it? if so, how
much?
robby
April 5th, 2005 at 6:07 am
used to think haveing diabetes wasn’t that expensive either. That
is, unitl I had to go off my parents health insurance and use my
own. I was shocked at how much $$ I have to lay out every month. I
went from paying $5 for an RX to paying 30-75% of the retail cost. It
can really add up. I test like 10 times a day (sometimes more)
because I always want to know what my BS is before I eat or exercise
or do anything because I HATE lows and try VERY hard to avoid them.
But now because the strips are so expensive I’m considering cutting
back on my testing. It really is a shame. You should count your
blessings that you are lucky enough to have such great coverage.
Good medical coverage is hard to come by these days.
oh i’m very thankful. god watches over me. he’s the one that let me
get to the hospital when i did before i ended up dying. he’s also why
i am very confident i’ll never get any of those complications. i’m
sure he will keep me very healthy.
robby
April 6th, 2005 at 1:40 am
stop bragging…lol!…We are very blessed as well, my dh works for the state of NJ and our hospital bill was $0. Our co-pay was just raised from $5 to $10. So a 3 month supply of anything we get is about $30.
We should share our extras with those not as fortunate.
Rhonda
April 6th, 2005 at 6:26 pm
stop bragging…lol!…We are very blessed as well, my dh works for
the state of NJ and our hospital bill was $0. Our co-pay was just
raised from $5 to $10. So a 3 month supply of anything we get is
about $30.
We should share our extras with those not as fortunate.
i am extremely happy that you have nice insurance. i feel bad for the
people that dont. i plan on staying with this company forever. they
are very nice to me.
robby
April 9th, 2005 at 1:48 pm
Robby, I have health insurance thanks to my husband and the cost is over $100.00 a week out of his paycheck.
My dr. visits are $20.00 each time to each one that I see and my insulin both kinds run $20.00 for two bottles of each, needles are the same.
It is fortunate that you have it so much cheaper but other’s on this list do not. My supplies and other preventive meds I take run my family
close to $300.00 a month. Add that to over $400.00 just for the insurance. Having any illness can be very expensive and a hardship
on many families. In fact, had I had insurance when I was younger and a single mother, I would not be suffering with diabetic complications because 14 years ago
I couldn’t afford the supplies. It was more important for my children to be fed and clothed. Some people do make sacrifices when they have to.
It’s always wise to think about walking in another’s shoes before spouting off what you have. Also, I hate to burst your bubble but it’s a proven
fact that no matter how well controlled you are, if you were to get pneumonia and it was a strain that could not handle the antibiotics offered God forbid, then in the event
of your demise, it would be considered from diabetic complications. Being diabetic makes it harder to not only heal but also to get better from illnesses that occur.
And………..Robby, they can occur so spontaneously, it’s not even funny. I believe in always being thankful for what I have dredged through and that I am still alive when there were times not at my own hand, I could have died due to diabetic complications. I’m going to chalk up your optimism to being young and pray that you never have to eat the words you wrote today.
Carol
April 10th, 2005 at 7:58 am
stop bragging…lol!…We are very blessed as well, my dh works for the state of NJ and our hospital bill was $0. Our co-pay was just raised from $5 to $10. So a 3 month supply of anything we get is about $30.
We should share our extras with those not as fortunate.
Rhonda
I agree with you, Rhonda. If I had leftovers to share although it’s illegal, I would gladly help them out. I did at one time work for a dr. who was worried about my being able to afford supplies so he had a Lilly rep send insulin to me. He was a great guy to work for.
Take care,
Carol
April 19th, 2005 at 3:09 pm
Robby, I have health insurance thanks to my husband and the cost is
over $100.00 a week out of his paycheck.
My dr. visits are $20.00 each time to each one that I see and my
insulin both kinds run $20.00 for two bottles of each, needles are
the same.
It is fortunate that you have it so much cheaper but other’s on this
list do not. My supplies and other preventive meds I take run my
family
close to $300.00 a month. Add that to over $400.00 just for the
insurance. Having any illness can be very expensive and a hardship
on many families. In fact, had I had insurance when I was younger and
a single mother, I would not be suffering with diabetic complications
because 14 years ago
I couldn’t afford the supplies. It was more important for my children
to be fed and clothed. Some people do make sacrifices when they have
to.
what kinds of complications do you have?
It’s always wise to think about walking in another’s shoes before
spouting off what you have. Also, I hate to burst your bubble but
it’s a proven
fact that no matter how well controlled you are, if you were to get
pneumonia and it was a strain that could not handle the antibiotics
offered God forbid, then in the event
of your demise, it would be considered from diabetic complications.
Being diabetic makes it harder to not only heal but also to get
better from illnesses that occur.
And………..Robby, they can occur so spontaneously, it’s not even
funny. I believe in always being thankful for what I have dredged
through and that I am still alive when there were times not at my own
hand, I could have died due to diabetic complications. I’m going to
chalk up your optimism to being young and pray that you never have to
eat the words you wrote today.
Carol
what do you mean eat the words i wrote? i’m not worried about getting
pneumonia. alot of people i’ve talked to warned me about not
listening to the scare stories that you read on the net. they told me
not to listen to the stories talking about how horrible things are
going to happen to you. yes, i know there is a small chance that
something bad could happen to me. but i do know that as long as i do
what my doctor says, and keep my sugars as close to normal as
possible, the chances of something bad happening to me are low. you
guys act as if i have no idea what i’m talking about. i have spent
hours reading as much about this as i can. i am educated. these
complications are rare, most people do not get them. i’ve already
talked to at least 10 people who have had this 30, 40, even 50 years
and nothing has ever happened to them. why? because they did what the
doctor told them to do. i have no idea what you mean by eating my
words. what did i say wrong? why not be optimistic??? alot of my
friends have told me to leave this group. i’ve told them about how
most people in here seem to think you are destined to have horrible
things happen to you and die young. people, this is not 1920! this is
2004! medical care is fantastic this day and age! if anything were to
start happening, they could catch it early at my checkups and put a
stop to it. why not be optimistic? am i supposed to sit here and
constantly worry about what could happen 20, 30 years down the road?
heck no i’m not going to do that! most people DO NOT get
complications! i’ve always been a very healthy person, i am not
worried that i will ever get heart or kidney disease. if i ever did
start to, they could treat it and stop it before it ever got bad.
i’ve never seen anything like you. are you all a bunch of
hypochondriacs? my doctor sat right there and told me this is
manageable, and liveable. you act like diabetes is some sort of
deadly disease. it can be, left uncontrolled! if you do the right
things, you are not going to have those bad things happen! i firmly
believe that. every single book i’ve read says the same thing. i’m
not going to let these naysayers scare the crap out of me and make me
think i’m destined to have a heart attack. i know that isnt true.
man, i can’t believe some of you guys.
robby
April 28th, 2005 at 2:52 am
OMG. I am completely sorry for the post to Robby. It was not meant to get onto the group before edit. I thought when you sent your written copy to “save as draft” you could go back and edit it before sending it. um, nope?
My apologies.
Joan
May 1st, 2005 at 12:26 pm
LOL!!! No need to edit, Joan! It was written very eloquently.
Take care,
Carol
OMG. I am completely sorry for the post to Robby. It was not meant to get onto the group before edit. I thought when you sent your written copy to “save as draft” you could go back and edit it before sending it. um, nope?
My apologies.
Joan
May 7th, 2005 at 4:47 am
Mary,
I was not even aware we could get generic strips. Thank you!
May 12th, 2005 at 11:55 am
Stephanie,
I can see how there would be some who purchase large lots of strips then resell them. However, I bet there are widows/widowers who don’t want to see strips that would have been used to go waste, nor waste their money they used to pay for them, and, another method might be unethically ordering way more than you intend/can use, and sell the ones you don’t use.
Another good example of how our costs got so high.
Joan
May 16th, 2005 at 6:43 am
Do you think, if we had a “type I diabetes group” meeting where we all got together and were able to more readily trade info and ideas and support, that we could wrangle it to be a medical expense? I would love to meet many of the people in this group in person. I think everyone is awesome!
Joan
May 25th, 2005 at 6:03 am
That is an awesome idea!
Rhonda
June 6th, 2005 at 11:11 am
Rob,
Can you say, “tact?”
June 9th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Touche’ Joan! Tact is a learned behavior that sometimes comes with age and sometimes never shows up. I have in-laws that don’t know the meaning of the word. I think I feel a little sorry for Robby because non-comprehension can get you into a lot of trouble in life and I swear from his posts that I believe he is just not comprehending the fundamentals of this disease although to hear him talk, he is.
Take care,
May God be with him and guide him or his mother spank him for such rude behavior.
Carol
Rob,
Can you say, “tact?”
June 24th, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Rob,
Never tried sticking the palm part of my finger. I can see how you might think it would be easier to get blood from it, though. Thank you for the warning, because there actually may have BEEN a time when I may have given it a shot, (no pun intended.)
Joan