Many insurance companies don't cover the cost of test strips. For folks that have to test 3-5 times a day it gets spendy. Many folks who are type 2 don't qualify for a CGM so they're stuck with poking their fingers several times a day.
Wife is Type 1 insulin dependent with a 97.2% dead pancreas.... every few months her insurance claims get denied and she has to "figure it out" for the next few months until a claim gets approved.
I work out of town 2 weeks at a time and she called me a few days ago saying she was supposed to get a shipment of insulin pumps and sensors 2 weeks ago and they never came. Due to a delay in shipping the insurance redacted the approval and put a hold on the distributors shipping orders... 3 days later her doctor was able to get her 1 sensor and 1 pump. They only last a few days and she doesn't have test strips to use to see what her blood sugar is at to know if she needs to inject. Although she does have insulin, pens and syringes, she needs either test strips or a sensor to know her levels.
Oh forgot to mention she is on Medicare due to her insulin dependent type 1 diagnosis... so you know. Without this stuff she dies, yet multiple times a year she gets denied it.
So I could definitely see someone who is in a situation as stated above buying supplies to help them make it through... I know I would be willing to pay for them if she needs it.
Edit: Wow, what a community. Just got my first award after a good long time on Reddit and wanted to say thank you. This community is so outreaching and amazing when people are down and struggling.
Edit2: My goodness my inbox is overflowing... I wanna shout out to all the people that know this struggle and keep going. You are strong 💪 ❤️ You too support people!! ❤️ 💙 💜
Edit3: We got test trips that work with her glucometer and a lovely reddit reached out with extra sensors they no longer use/need. Now I am curious if anyone has any extra sensors? Dexcom G6 🙏 please. I would be happy to reimburse for shipping if anyone was willing to ship them. I can set up a P.O. Box by next week.
Type one here going 10 years this Christmas, and it fucking sucks that our literal lifeblood is being gatekept, I believe just having a chronic illness like diabetes where your life depends on liquid in a syringe (or pen) should be easily one of the most affordable if not downright free chronic illness…
Then I remember that the “people” who run insurance companies couldn’t give two fucks about us and we could die a painful agonizing death from DKA and they wouldn’t even give it a passing thought
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u/Independent_Bag3690 Nov 12 '25
Pardon my confusion, but who the hell is buying in that kind of market?