Typical costs for diabetes patients

Typical monthly costs for medicines and testing supplies to control diabetes, for two common categories of patients who don't have other health problems. Prices are the full cost, and would be lower for someone with insurance. At bottom are initial costs for hospitalized patients with common complications from cutting back on care:

Typical patient with Type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes:

Humalog fast-acting insulin: $104.11

Lantus long-acting insulin: $77.20

1 syringe/day for Lantus: $10.50

3 pen needles/day for Humalog: $33.64

4 lancets/day (for finger pricking): $14.99

4 test strips/day: $123.59

Accupril (prevents kidney damage): $58.77

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Total: $422.80

Typical patient with Type 2 diabetes:

Glucotrol XL (helps body make more insulin): $70.33

metformin (helps control blood sugar): $4

Actos (reduces insulin resistance): $222.38

1 lancet/day: $3.75

1 test strip/day: $30.90

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Total: $331.36

Average hospitalization for Type 2 diabetes patient who develops a life-threatening complication called ketoacidosis:

$11,080

Average hospitalization for Type 2 diabetes patient who develops dangerously high blood sugar:

$6,430

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Sources: American Diabetes Association, www.drugstore.com, U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality