I get loads of questions about where to find discounted meds and other diabetes supplies. Especially over at the DiabeticConnect community, costs are one of the hottest topics. Until now, I’ve been referring folks to Patient Assistance Programs, neglecting the fact that if you have a little bit of cash on hand, you can get your D-stuff for amazing prices at your local Wal-Mart.
Seriously. I was pretty stunned when I walked by the Wal-Mart Pharmacy booth at the ADA Conference last week and saw the price points:
Glucose Meters starting at $9
Testing Strips starting at .39 cents each (!)
A ReliOn home A1c test kit for $9
ReliOn/Novolin insulin for $23.67 per vial
And get this: a 30-day prescription for just $4, or a 90-day supply for $10, for hundreds of oral drugs, including:
- Metformin
- Glyburide
- Glipizide
- Glimepiride
- Lovastatin
- Lisinopril
- Levothyroxine
and many more, including arthritis and pain drugs, gastrointestinal meds, asthma and infection treatments, etc., etc.
Wow. There was actually new research data presented at the ADA showing that Wal-Mart and Medco Mail Order are currently the least expensive drug vendors. Some excerpts from this report:
“The total monthly out-of-pocket price for all 10 drugs most commonly prescribed to diabetes patients for any indication ranged from a low of $428.35 with Medco to a high of $641.90 with Rite Aid.”
“Dr. Jackness and colleagues found that metformin sold for $4.00 in the generic drug discount program at Wal-Mart and Target and for $5.00 at Kmart. But the local neighborhood pharmacies averaged $38.95 and pharmacy chain Rite Aid charged $39.99.”
Boo on Rite Aid, I say!
And even though Wal-Mart may have taken some unethical missteps with its employment practices in the past, you have to appreciate their efforts to offer some financial relief to people with diabetes.
The press reports that so far, “the company’s affordable pharmacy program has saved customers more than $1 billion. That number is expected to grow this year since customers began taking advantage of ReliOn diabetic testing supplies last fall.”
Ugh… am I actually plugging Wal-Mart? Well hell, I’d plug anyplace where a 90-day supply of vital diabetes meds costs just $10 — even without health insurance.
I actually bought the $9 A1c kit this weekend when I was at Wal-Mart picking up cat food. I am trying to decide if I should try it now, or wait until I am closer to my lab draw.
Even if it isn’t entirely accurate, I figured it would be a good blog post to try it!
great post. I actually bought a Wal-Mart glucose meter a few months ago when my insurance was not letting me refill my test strips. It has come in handy a few times since then to cover those couple days when I run out of strips but it’s too early to refill. It’s much easier on the wallet to buy 20 strips for $10 than 50 strips for $60.
Amy,
Here is another list of Diabetes Patient Assistance Resources your readers may want to look into:
http://tudiabetes.com/notes/Diabetes_Patient_Assistance_Resources
Have you ever seen “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price?” I pay a bloody fortune for my diabetes supplies but I would not support Walmart for any reason.
It is quite true that Wal-Mart has been successful in outcompeting other stores which sell the same products, such as toys, clothing, and groceries. But how has it been able to do this? By discovering new ways of using computer systems and other technology to better manage its inventory and costs and reap the benefits of economy of scale.
Wal-Mart is especially popular among low-income shoppers who cannot afford the prices of the more upscale stores. It has put other stores out of business, but that is the way capitalism works. The automobile replaced the horse and buggy. Sound motion picture replaced the silents. No one has a “right” to business success or a “right” to be protected from competitors through government intervention. One only has a right to try to compete through voluntary trade. In a free economy, companies that offer the best value for the dollar win and the losers invest their money elsewhere.
It is also true that Wal-Mart pays lower wages than many unionized stores. But it must offer a market wage or risk its employees going elsewhere, and it deals with employees on a voluntary basis. Those who do not like its terms are free to do business elsewhere. This makes the company especially hated by “organized labor,” such as the grocery unions. By coercively restricting the supply of labor, these unions, backed by government laws and regulations, have been able to extort wages and benefits far above those which would exist in a truly free labor market. In a free market, how many people doing relatively unskilled work would get $17-19 per hour plus full medical benefits? Unions, of course, have the right to organize and picket but not to benefit from government regulations which give them special favors. No one has the right to dictate what a company offers to pay others.
There is only one morally proper way to keep Wal-Mart out of any community: don’t patronize its stores. If Wal-Mart cannot make money in a given location, it will either not move there or will close the store. So far, however, it makes money everywhere it opens a store for one simple reason: customers want to shop there. The low prices Wal-Mart offers make people wealthier. They can buy a wide range of quality goods that they could not otherwise afford and they can use the money they save for other purposes (like cheap diabetes supplies).
Local government should not be allowed to abuse their power by keeping out stores that consumers want to shop in. Nor, of course, should Wal-Mart be allowed to use eminent domain laws, as it is trying to do in several states, to force property owners to sell their land. But given that it refrains from using eminent domain, we should welcome every store that Wal-Mart builds. We should thank this great company for being so good at giving customers what they want that they make huge profits, which enables them to build more stores, hire more employees, give more profit opportunities to suppliers and make even more customers happy.
Wal-Mart should not be feared but should be admired as an American ideal–a classic rags to riches story. It is the quintessential example of an innovator left free to function. Only in a country where individual rights–at least what’s left of them–including the right to earn a profit, are recognized, could a company like Wal-Mart arise and prosper. Trying to stop Wal-Mart is not only morally wrong, it is un-American.
Wal-mart used to advertise that it sold American goods made by American companies, but now it’s darn near impossible to find anything other than “Made in China”. Not to say that all Chinese goods are cheap, or tainted, or made in conditions that would make us cringe, but it bothers me that the trade deficit just keeps getting bigger and we are in a real economic mess. Think about the foreign junkets that arrive to buy real estate because of the shape that we are in.
On a personal note, with my finances not being anything to crow about, I’ve considered shopping at Wal-mart. However, I can’t bring myself to do it (yet). Hopefully things will improve.
This welldepot site has cheap diabetic test strips. about $24. for Wavesense test strips. I think 50 in a box which is a good price.
OOOPs i forgot the site is welldepot.com
I just got the new ReliOn Micro meter at Walmart and I love it. Strips are only 21.99 for a box of 50. It is auto coded and has a small sample size of .3ul. Unlike the older ReliOn meter the wicking action is great and I don’t have to waste strips trying multiple times to get my blood. I also like that it has pre and post meal flags.
To save money I strated buying Metformin from WallMart. It’s cheap, Yes. But since I started taking it, I have a foul taste in my mouth, and the tablets smell “funny” like old/stale urine, and my own urine smells. I have been using metformin for several years but bought at regular pharmacies, and never experienced anything like this. Looks like WallMart is selling something that they should not sell.
You can even get diabetic medications at affordable price from International Drug Mart. Like walmart they also supply at very affordable price and have decade old experience in pharma industry.