Costco (US) sells the libre 3 for $30 a piece. Don’t use insurance. Ask them to use the costco cash price for costco members. Your insurance rate will likely be higher ($75 per pair). CGMs are coded as both DME (durable medical equipment) and regular Rx stuff. If you want a cheaper rate from insurance, you need to go to your insurance’s DME vendor. However, your insurance may ask for additional authorization for that (i.e. Diabetes diagnosis). So, in conclusion, the costco $30 price is pretty good.
Wow, great information! It’s nice to have these around the house just to check trend lines occasionally.
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FYI, if you’re having trouble getting a prescription because your doc won’t play ball, a lot of folks use tastermonial for that part. It’s a reasonable fee of $98 for a 12 sensor prescription. You don’t have to get 12.
Can confirm the Costco price also.
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I seem to remember that you don’t have to be a Costco Member to use their pharmacy, can anyone confirm? It’s a 3 hours round-trip but occasionally I go out that way. Do they mail? $30 is insanely good. The best I’ve gotten was $71 from Amazon pharmacy. Thanks. Maybe I should join and go shopping there once every 3 months.
Great info
It’s sick that any Practitioner would balk at giving out a script, blood glucose is a huge integral factor in overall health. The risk of infection is very low, and I’ve only heard of one…uh…here (note: Always use an alcohol wipe!!!)
@AgentSmith this is great info. Thanks for sharing. When I did my CGM experiments a few years ago, I had to do the Levels challenge that cost a ton but I could earn back my money by having low readings all day. It was a real bother and I couldn’t experiment with anything that might wreck my readings without losing more money. It was a drag. This is cheap enough that I might give it another go.
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Glad it is useful! The least I can do in return for your podcasts.
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Right, you don’t need to be a member, but the discounted rate is for members. If you aren’t a member, they’ll offer you the standard insurance rate, which should be $70-$75 per pair. To clarify, it’s $30 per sensor, so $60 for the month.
You can also use any of the telehealth docs for it. As a costco member, you get $30 access to sesame care and can get a prescription from there as well.
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Do they guarantee a prescription? Telehealth services are often a crapshoot. I guess one could roll the dice 3 times for the same price.
I just ask my doc, but many online have worse luck. Otherwise, tastermonial wouldn’t be in business.
Yes, telehealth is luck of the draw, but mainly on the duration. They want repeat business, so they’ll give you a shorter prescription. I used the $30 session and got a 3 month prescription, although I asked for a year. Some have got a year. I also got a radiology referral for CAC in the same session, so wasn’t too bad for $30. YMMV. I don’t think they would deny a CGM prescription as it’s harmless. There should also be OTC ones available this year. Tastermonial is lower friction but higher upfront cost. Btw, tastermonial has a 25% off code, so even that isn’t too bad at $75 for 6 months.
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I was paying $71 for a single… 14-days. Even $75 would be a deal… are you absolutely sure it’s for a double? The lowest at GoodRx today is $138 for a pair…
Yes, if you have any type of commercial insurance your max will be limited to $75 per pair. Abbot also gives you a co-pay card if your bill is more than $75 a month. So whether you go the cash route or the insurance route, your monthly shouldn’t exceed $75.
Edit: It’s not worth the trip to costco in your case. Call Abbot and ask for the co-pay card and send it to Amazon pharmacy (or any other pharmacy for that matter). Costco also delivers, so you don’t necessarily have to go in person.
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You can see it here (and order it if you are a Costco member)
https://www.costco.com/cmpps?drugIdentifierParam=02044535855&drugNameParam=FreeStyle+Libre+2+Reader
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RapAdmin is that your “member price?” Are you a member?
What I seem to see is 1x1 or a single (14 day).
Yesterday, when I looked it was 1x1 but the “by one” = two, so now I’m confused
The website won’t display the price. You’ll have to call them and give them your membership no. to get the $30 price (officially known as the CMPP plan). It’ll be easier for you to get the Abott card and that’ll work everywhere for $75 a month.
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What is so special about libre 3? Real question btw. I checked amazon and it is littered with blood glucose monitoring devices for about $25? Are amazon ones no good?
Yes - I’m a member and that seems to be the member price. This is the view I get when I’m logged into my account:
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The Freestyle Libra 2 and 3 are “Continuous” blood glucose monitors - they have a quarter sized sensor that you plug into your arm or elsewhere and it sends measurements to your phone on an ongoing basis.
The regular finger prick blood glucose monitors are something you have to prick your finger to get blood with, then use the monitor to check blood glucose levels. You don’t want to be doing that a dozen times a day to be tracking your blood glucose levels - its a hassle.
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WOW, thank you thank you thank you! I was using dexcom but stopped to save money.
Is freestyle libre 3 similar in that you don’t have to swipe your iphone? For this price, I’m interested to start wearing them regularly again
Tidbit…
a couple years ago I woke up with chest pain that woudn’t go away, so my doctor told me to go to the ER…
10k later, I was fine… I guess that is a win, even if it felt AWFUL!
Months later my new cardiologist asked if I had cgm readings that day…. I did! It turns out I had unusually low glucose levels all through that night… he told me low glucose can cause chest pain!! You all probably know this but I had no idea.
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