New Blood Glucose Meter Available Without Co-Pays

Abbott’s new blood glucose meter is now widely available OTC without insurance co-pays.

Cleared by the FDA and offered at major US retailers, the FreeStyle Precision Neo Blood Glucose Monitoring System can test blood glucose levels within 5 seconds and hold up to 1000 readings in its memory. The device has a touchscreen display with easy-to-read numbers, and it is thinner than a AAA battery.

It the first system from Abbott's FreeStyle product line available OTC without the need for insurance paperwork and co-pays, giving diabetics the option to pay out of pocket for blood glucose meter and test strips. The system costs between $14 and $17 for 25 test strips, and a one-time fee for the meter ranges from $22 to $28.

"People with diabetes depend every single day on trusted, high-quality tools to monitor their glucose levels. 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," said Robert Ford, senior vice president of diabetes care at Abbott, in a press release. "Today, more than ever, consumers have more influence on their health care decisions, and Abbott is focused on offering products that provide the highest standard of accuracy, and are also affordable and easily accessible OTC."

Average direct medical expenditures for patients diagnosed with diabetes can reach up to $7900 per year. Furthermore, diabetics’ medical costs are about 2.3 times higher than for people without the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association.