What It Is?

Lumberkid can drive now so I've been checking the local classifieds for a magically safe, exceedingly economical, and inexplicably cheap vehicle for her. The hunt is going well but I've gotten sidetracked by these little "I Will Buy Your Unused Diabetic Test Strips" ads. I keep seeing them, lots of them, peppered through the Want-Ads.

If it was just one guy, I'd figure that he was a hustler who had a (bad) idea for making a little quick cash. But there's lots of guys doing it. So what is going on?

I understand that a diabetic is supposed to check their blood at least once, and maybe a couple of times, a day. I can easily see getting one or two boxes ahead; you don't like running out, so you loose track and now you've got extra boxes. Sure. But these websites make it look like it's not uncommon for the 'sellers' to ship more than 20 boxes at a time.

So just how do you get more than 20 boxes of test strips ahead if you're spending your own money? Those things aren't cheap. Would it be cynical to suppose that somebody's health insurance is picking up the bill for these "extra" boxes of test strips? And that the sellers are not checking their blood as often as they should, so that they'll be able to sell the strips?

The sites claim that it's illegal for them to buy any box that has labeling to indicate that it came from Medicare or Medicaid. Does that mean that no Medicare or Medicaid strips have been sold? Or is it a hint that you should remove the label if possible?

Seems to me that if you accidentally ended up with too many test strips, you should take them back to the store for a refund... Unless you didn't pay for them. See? Something is not right. The fact that there are many people are making a living off this strange transaction suggests that it is really, really, not right.

And oddly, health insurance costs are going up. Nobody understands why.