I think your experience was unusual in that you had so many failures (hopefully you at least got your broken sensors replaced for free; both Dexcom and Libre do this) and that you are good at managing your diabetes without many measurements.

The out-of-pocket expense can certainly be rough; I use Libre right now because my Dexcom out-of-pocket would be similar to yours and Libre is a third.

I lend my CGM to people to who are possibly prediabetic. I'm very glad I can point them to an OTC solution now.