Fired Up Friday – High Cost of Diabetes Test Strips

This week’s edition of Fired Up Friday is something that I know fires up everybody.  The high cost of diabetes testing strips.  Supplies in general are expensive, but I’m just trying to focus on the strips themselves because I think we use more of these than any other supplies.  Do a quick search for “cost of diabetic test strips” or “how much does it cost to make diabetes test strips” and look at the results.  Here is a screen shot from one of those searches and I am amazed by what I find.

What did you see?  Did you see anything that actually tells me how much it costs to make a test strip?  I didn’t see anything.  So, I am not going to speak and argue about things that are not fact.  So a fact is, I don’t know exactly how much it costs to make a test strip.  From the automation process of it, I would say that it can’t cost anymore then, let’s say, $0.05 to make one strip.  If this is the case, then why does one box of 100 strips at a retail pharmacy cost on average, $100?  That is $1 per strip.  That is a 95% profit.  What business has a 95% profit, seriously?

To the manufacturers, you have made enough money off of us already.  It’s not like we are going anywhere anytime soon, we are still going to use your products.  Let’s look at the economics behind it, and let’s take a look at a dollar store.  How can a dollar store make money by selling things for $1 that even Wal-Mart sells for $5.00?  Easily, the quantity they sell, (there are other reasons as well, such as being bulk and buying short dated).  They can sell 5 things at $1, and Wal-Mart sells 1 at $5, they both make the same amount of money essentially.  So how can diabetes manufacturers work like this?

This is very simple.  Cut your prices in half and you will sell twice as more.  A lot of people have switched from using the top brands to a cheaper brand because the strips are 50-60% cheaper, and they work pretty much the same way.  I’ve used just about every meter out there and they give me the same results, so get off your high horse, especially that “One” company that thinks everything they “Touch” is gold!  Not that I am pointing anybody out or anything.  Not like they will read the “Life” of a diabetic and “Scan” this blog to read what people have to say.  Get over yourself!

Moving on.  Testing yourself and seeing good results is an addiction.  It really is.  When I am trying to manage my sugar the best, I test 12-16 times a day.  So what does this mean?  It means that I will buy twice the amount of boxes of strips if the prices were cut in half.  I would continue to spend the same amount of money, and I wouldn’t go and buy a cheaper brand, I would stick with your top name brand.  By you not cutting your prices, you are losing business.  Do you not see that?  I think a lot of these big shots at the top manufacturers were too hung over or stoned to go to their Economics 101 class in college.

I dare to see a top manufacturer cut your prices in half, go $0.30 per strip.  I know it would make me want to use the product, and I know I’m not the only one to think so.  I can bet that your company’s new price structure would be the hot topic of the diabetic community.  But are you listening?  Are you out there Freestyle?  Hello Bayer? Those arrogant guys, you there too, or you too busy golfing and playing polo somewhere?  I know Roche has brought the diabetic community before and plans on doing it again this year at Children with Diabetes, but not too sure about the others.

Show me some goodwill on your end, and I show you a customer for life!

I’ll be here waiting for your next move, but I won’t be holding my breathe.

What say you?