walmart does it again ....even cheaper test strips

[bigdad7]

so i was at walmart to buy some more strips thinking 20 dollars for 50 and what do i see ....a new meater with strips running at 9 for 50 ....asked the pharmacist if this was just a promo or what ....he told me this is the new normal for this meter called the reli-on prime ...now i didn;t think the strips or the meter was the best quality not quite like my freestyle but can;t beat the price with no insurance just thought i would pass it on

[jojeti]

I have had Relion's and they have been just as accurate as my Aviva. They just don't have all the bells and whistles.

[bigdad7]

oh no it was acurate just the strips on the new meter seem to not fit in as smoothly as my pretty meters but at that price

[TrickyTreeFrog]

During the time we had no insurance we bought the "SideKick" 19.95 at Walmart and the top of the strip container is the meter with 50 strips. This item worked very well

Hugs

Da Fwog

[patricia52]

Thanks bigdad for posting this. I will have to check my local Wally World. My son needs to test because he is pre-d and has no insurance. Also this is cheaper than my copay for my Aviva. May become my new strips. Atleast my suppliment strips.

[sarah76]

I wish Walmart Canada has this.

[shainesboostin]

Wow, is this real? Lol, I am going to walmart now!!!

[patricia52]

It is real. I got the red meter for me and a blue one for my son. The clerk was surprised but the other clerk told her it was correct. Felt like Christmas in July.

[bigdad7]

ya the price blew me away just wish the meter had a light on the display like the older reli-on meter but really $9 dollars just blew me away

[poodlebone]

This just highlights what we all know - test strip prices are grossly inflated. I hope this spurs the big companies to lower their prices, but I doubt it will.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Diabetes Forums

[bigdad7]

at least the mob only threatens to break your leg ......all the strip manufactures got you buy the short hairs it;s like pay up or go blind.....but they do have to cover their r & d costs so my guess the cheaper strips are older technology functional but prob not the latest and greatest

[patricia52]

If they sell enough strips (and I think they will) they will quickly recover all technology expenses. The funny thing is all manufactors had this option. They were just to greedy to see that by reducing their price they would sell more therefore increasing their profits. I will will no longer have to skimp on testing at only $.18 per strip. These strips are are cost less than my co-pay on my regular strips.

[poodlebone]

at least the mob only threatens to break your leg ......all the strip manufactures got you buy the short hairs it;s like pay up or go blind.....but they do have to cover their r & d costs so my guess the cheaper strips are older technology functional but prob not the latest and greatest

How different from each other are all of the big, brand name strips right now? Is Accu-Chek really THAT different than Bayer or Freestyle or One Touch? All of those are definitely a far cry from the old One Touch strips (for the Basic and Profile meters) that gave you a reading based on a color change on the strips. Or my original Ames Glucometer where you could read the strips visually or put them in the meter to get a number. But all of the current strips seem kind of the same. When I peel them apart, they all have fancy little electronic looking things inside. Okay, at least the One Touch Ultra and Bayer Contour strips do, as those are the only brands I actually have in my possession right now. But I remember the Accu-Chek Aviva not being too different. So, I'm sure that when you peel apart the WalMart strips, they look just as advanced with futuristic metal things inside.

[sweetstar]

Thanks for the tip. i have been using the Wal-Mart confirm and the strips are $20 for 50.
I bought the new Prime today. The meter is almost $17 but the strips are just $9. They
must be fairly new.
I did test the old and the new meter. The first time they were 1 point apart. The last 2 or 3
readings they have been 10 or so apart. Basic difference of the Confirm vs. my Accu-check.
So maybe these meters are really all about the same.
Anyway, I will watch to see how long before they raise the price.

[bigdad7]

according to the pharmacist this is the normal price ....its on their 4/9 dollar medication list so the price should go nowhere .....what interests me is how long before this pushes prices down on other strips just wondering what insurance companies/pharmacies are actually paying for strips because i find it hard to believe they are paying full price