Medicare: Cost-saving changes coming for diabetics

Your Health Matters

FILE - In this March 14, 2009 file photo, a woman gets ready to check her blood sugar in Sacramento, Calif. Medicare begins a major change next month that could save older diabetics money and time when they buy crucial supplies to test their blood sugar _ but it also may cause some patient confusion. On July 1, Medicare opens a national mail-order program for diabetes testing supplies that will drop substantially the prices the government pays for those products _ and will restrict who's allowed to sell them. The goal is to save taxpayer dollars, and seniors in the program should see their copays drop, too, from more than $15 an order to less than $5. For a chronic disease, that can add up fast. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare begins a major change next month that could save older diabetics money and time when they buy crucial supplies to test their blood sugar — but it also may cause some confusion as patients figure out the new system.

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