Those blood sugar monitors operate on the inkjet printer principle. They give the device away for practically free, but they charge an arm and a leg for the test strips.
And those newer strips have a chip with an expiration date hardcoded. I had to throw away a full box of strips just because the date had expired by a couple of months.
So, is there any device that doesn’t screw you with exorbitant strip prices?
Because our nearly worthless health insurance refuses to pay for a monitor/test strips, I use the Walmart brand (Reli-On) BG monitor. The test strips are around $20 for a box of 50. A box of 100 is around $35. I use the Reli-On Micro monitor, which costs around $15. It’s been working for me just fine for several years. Quite accurate.
In the last year or so, Consumer Reports had a story on blood glucose monitors. where they not only covered accuracy & ease of use, but also the periodic cost of using the meters.
As I recall, nearly all of them came out to be acceptably accurate. There were some differences in ease of use. And significant differences in cost. I think the chain brands (Target, Wal-Mart, etc.) were cheaper.
I just got a ReliOn Prime at Wal-Mart. Meter was about $16.00 and 50 test strips for $9.00.
I am not in the US. Can I buy the ReliOn device and strips online and have it shipped to me?
I don’t see why not! Go to Walmart.com to find them. You can order online, but I have no idea if they ship to areas outside the U.S.