I think Heirloom does have occasional sales when they offer their roses (but not all of them) for $12.95 and even for $8.95, but otherwise all the roses are $16.95.
I'm glad the med works. It would be doubly horrible to pay that much for something that may or may not work. Maybe there eventually will be a less expensive, generic brand of it. Have you had diabetes since childhood or did it start later?