I have a tenant who is supposed to be testing her blood sugar every day, but cannot afford the test strips, etc. She is on Medicaid, and she says it does not pay for these. If she were on Medicare, it would pay for them.

Are there any programs that help people like her get their testing supplies? She gets SSI, so has a quite limited income.

Any ideas that I can pass on to her, or to other tenants in the same situation, would be greatly appreciated.

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Nita

doesn't medicaid cover the electronic unit?

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Tom

Maybe, but the big cost is the supplies that go with the unit. The units are often a give-away, but when you go to buy the supplies, the cost can be quite high.

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Nita

True, the medicaid programs are administered by the states and they all vary on what's covered.

I would suggest directly contacting the pharmaceutical company that makes the strips she needs for her monitor. Almost every company has some kind of compassionate care program for those who are uninsured or under-insured, where drugs and supplies are made available free or greatly reduced. If she strikes out with the people who make the monitor she has, I'd advise her to reach out to some other mfr.

As you point out, the devices are generally very cheap or freebies. The strips are where the expense comes in.

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Thanks for the info, Maggie. Unfortunately, I don't think this lady will pursue anything unless someone does it for her. However, we have a woman who is starting a non-profit group to help people with medication & resources, so I will refer my tenant to her for help. She came just in the nick of time!

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Nita