Honestly, type ones have so many more costs. More insulin, more needles, more strips. If you decide on pump therapy it's a $10,000 shell-out or at least $70 a fortnight in health insurance, without adding the prices of consultations with endocrinologists and diabetes educators every four or so months.

Type twos just don't have it that bad. Sorry, guys, it's the truth.

It amazes me that so many people are up in arms.

 I am a type one diabetic and have been for more than 32 years. I would be dead if I were not able to test my blood sugar level every hour or so because I do not have hypo awareness. 

However I do feel that by not subsidising type two there are going to be many health problems as a result: leg amputations, skin ulcers and many unnecessary hospital admissions.

I am type two and on a care plan with my GP, as I have been for more than seven years. My GP has always insisted that I test before and after each meal, which is a minimum of six times each day.

So, my test strips are needed.

This will result in more people ending up in hospital, clogging up emergency departments because they cannot afford to manage their diabetes.

While type two can be heavily influenced by lifestyle, there are lots of people with chronic illness and disability who have diabetes on top of other conditions.

A lot of these people are on pensions so effectively making them pay more is reducing their ability to live. Taxing the poor even more. It’s not bad enough that they keep cutting pensions but increasing the cost of living … just wrong.

Just means we'll have to make yet another appointment with our GP when we need test strips. 

Let's save a few dollars at the chemist by having Medicare billed for an extra consultation.

This is in reference to the Hon Alan Tudge MP, Minister for Human Services' letter, which appeared in the Maitland Mercury on January 18, 2017.

I can't help but agree that no one should cheat on welfare or any other system that is a service to society. LIkewise it's very unfortunate that some Ministers themselves take advantage of any loophole, which many legislations are riddled with.

As humans, the people running our welfare system can themselves make mistakes, and running a very complex system, such as welfare has become, does not make it easier on anyone! 

The reduction in personnel at the various centres means that, whereas once before one could ask for help, you now cannot.

The few that are now manning the centres are on overload, so they direct the already frustrated “customers” to a computer.

Very few people know how to operate one, and more important, are not knowledgeable enough to comprehend the terminology used in those forms. Because of that, involuntary mistakes can occur.

Instead of using the issue as a political football, both Labor and the government should concentrate on making the system more efficient and cheat-proof.