A typographical error appears in the above-listed response letter. The conservative estimate of the cost of self-monitoring of blood glucose in the U.S. is $0.5 billion/year, not $1.5 billion/year. The total cost in 2002 for reagent strips, lancets, lancing devices, meters, batteries, and calibration solutions or chips was $465,500,000, which represented 58.8% of the total outlay of the Medicare B program for the ICD-9 code of 250.00 (personal communication, staff, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services). However, since this cost does not include the 10% of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in HMO-managed Medicare, this figure is certainly an underestimate of the total cost for glucose monitoring in type 2 diabetic Medicare patients not taking insulin. Given that this nearly one-half billion dollars is only for Medicare patients, the total cost for glucose monitoring for all type 2 diabetic patients not taking insulin is obviously much higher.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
April 2006
Erratum|
April 01 2006
