Type II’s *not* on insulin and test strip prescription

I know that type I’s and type II’s on insulin need to test more than those diabetics that are type II’s (at least I believe type I’s need to) so they will need a prescription for a higher number of test strips. But what about type II’s using diet and oral meds to control their diabetes? How many test strips does your doctor prescribe? Does he decide how many to prescribe or do you tell him? Of course going with how many your insurance will cover.

The reason I ask is because my endo back in September "suggested" that I could cut back to testing 2 times a day. I told him that I wasn’t comfortable doing that and we got into a bit of back and forth with him telling me that insurance doesn’t like to pay for extra strips for non insulin dependent diabetics. I told him my insurance will pay for 4 strips a day. He got a bit defensive but dropped the issue. Then when I went back in to see him on December 15th, he made the same suggestion. Again, I told him that I prefer to test 3 times a day and if I want to test only 2 times a day then that either choice will be mine. Dropped the issue again. Well, on Friday, I found out from Medco that not only did he write the wrong prescription amount for my metformin but he also wrote out a prescription for test strips for only 2 a day. This was done on December 3rd and he never told me at my office visit on the 15th that he wrote out a reduced test strip prescription. I am quite upset about this and will be speaking to him when the office opens at 9:00 a.m. I think he’s forgotten that we work as a team and that I make the final decision about my care and what I need to keep in control.

So, how many test strips is your prescription for and does your doctor try to call the shots on this?