New Blood Glucose Meter Provides People with Diabetes an Accurate, Affordable Solution for Glucose Testing-Without Insurance Copays

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Diabetes Week -- The cost of insurance premiums and employee medical claims continues to rise in the United States, which is especially challenging for people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes. For people with diagnosed diabetes, average, direct medical expenditures can reach up to $7,900 per year(i)--almost as much as the annual cost of a moderate food plan at home for a family of two.(ii)

https://photos.prnewswire.com/prnvar/20150414/198703-INFO

Now a new, slim-designed Abbott blood glucose meter with high accuracy is available over-the-counter at major U.S. retailers at a lower cost than other branded meters and test strips, and without the need for insurance paperwork and copays often needed to purchase branded diabetes supplies. This new meter, the FreeStyle Precision Neo Blood Glucose Monitoring System™, received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and is now available at a cost of between $14-$17 USD for 25 strips and a one-time fee for the meter, which ranges from $22-$28 USD (see also Abbott).

"People with diabetes depend every single day on trusted, high-quality tools to monitor their glucose levels," said Robert Ford, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "This dependence makes it even more important to ensure people have affordable access to accurate, fast, and easy-to-use systems such as FreeStyle Precision Neo system. Today, more than ever, consumers have more influence on their healthcare decisions, and Abbott is focused on offering products that provide the highest standard of accuracy, and are also affordable and easily accessible over the counter."

According to the American Diabetes Association, the medical costs of people living with diabetes are about 2.3 times higher than for people without the disease.(i)

In addition, the process associated with healthcare insurance paperwork can be a challenge for some individuals. To help provide a solution, Abbott developed FreeStyle Precision Neo--the first system from Abbott's FreeStyle family of products that is available over the counter with preferred copay pricing, giving patients the option to pay out of pocket to obtain their monitor and test strips.

Keywords for this news article include: Abbott, Diabetes.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2015, NewsRx LLC