Ontario Public Drug Programs
Reimbursement levels for Blood Glucose Test Strips
Research has indicated that Blood Glucose Test Strips (BGTS) have a limited benefit for many patients who do not take insulin to manage their diabetes. Based on best evidence, the government is introducing changes to the number of blood glucose test strips it will reimburse people with diabetes, while ensuring those who need test strips to help manage diabetes will continue to have access to them. The new changes are effective August 1, 2013, and are aligned with the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) for encouraging proper testing practices for optimal patient outcomes.
A July 2009, report from Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) stated that blood glucose test strips, in practice, have a limited clinical benefit for many patients who are not on insulin. The CDA also published a commentary recognizing that some limits on the number of blood glucose test strips reimbursed for patients on oral anti-diabetes medications may be reasonable.
Test Strip Reimbursement Limits
To help monitor the number of test strips your patient has received during a 365-day period, the ministry's Health Network System (HNS) will track and determine the reimbursement level based on each patient's diabetes treatment.
The chart below shows the reimbursement limits for test strips for each 365-day period:
| Diabetes Treatment Category | Number of BGTS allowed within a 365-day period |
|---|---|
| Patients managing diabetes with insulin | 3,000 |
| Patients managing diabetes with anti-diabetes medication with high risk of causing hypoglycemia | 400 |
| Patients managing diabetes using anti-diabetes medication with low risk of causing hypoglycemia | 200 |
| Patients managing diabetes through diet/lifestyle therapy only (no insulin or anti-diabetes medications) | 200 |
We need your help
We need your help to ensure that each patient receives the correct number of strips and to help answer any questions they may have on the new limits. We're asking that you discuss the limits with your patients and speak to them about proper testing practices and frequency of testing that's right for them.
Resources for patients on self-managing blood glucose levels can be found on the Diabetes Canada website.
Information for health care professionals:
- Executive Officer Communications website for updated information
- Questions and Answers for Health Care Professionals
- Educational Patient Video - Monitoring Blood Glucose Levels with Test Strips
MedsCheck
If your patient is using prescription medication as part of their diabetes treatment plan, we also ask that you remind your patient of the free annual MedsCheck consultation for diabetes with their community pharmacist.
We thank you for continuing to help your patients manage their diabetes and your ongoing commitment to keeping Ontarians healthy.
If you need more information on the new reimbursement levels for your patients using blood glucose test strips, please contact Service Ontario at 416-326-1234 or 1-800-267-8097 (toll-free)
If you want more information on the latest from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, including diabetes newsletters and other downloadable resources, please visit Stand Up to Diabetes
To view PDF format files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat® Reader installed on your computer.
You can download this free software from the Adobe Web site.
Public Information
