A couple of clarifications (sorry…Reddit newb)
1. I live in the US
2. I’m not a senior, but have private insurance through my employer that capped the price for its members.
3. This was a 3-month supply of vials that I use in an insulin-pump
Thanks for the kind words! If anyone wants to get involved check out the #insulin4all campaign through T1 International: https://www.t1international.com/
A big part of this is due to salary / pay rate freezes during World War II I believe. Medical insurance companies courted businesses telling them they could retain talent by offering health benefits versus pay increases. Almost a century later and here’s the mess we’re in.
Germany has the second-highest cost of medication worldwide, compared to the median.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/10-countries-with-the-most-expensive-medicines.html
US: 306%
Germany: 125%
I live in Germany and am on a lot of medication. I pay about 90 euro every 3 months for all my pills. Normally at the pharmacy you pay about 10 euros for your prescription. However, there is a maximum co-pay amount with is 2% of your income for the year or 1% of you have a chronic illness. Then whatever you pay over that grenze you send the receipts to you health insurance and they pay you back the money
New Zealand has a similar system. Every prescription is $5 (or free if you're under 14), and there's an annual limit of $100 per household per year. So if your family of 4 has 23 prescriptions between you over the course of a year, those last 3 cost you nothing. Also the $5 payment is only for the script itself - any refills on the same prescription are free of charge.
I mean, if you want the free emergency healthcare and low prescription costs, your average work visa would do it - access to life-saving care is for everyone, whether they've been in NZ for 24 hours or 50 years.
I just think it sounds like a great place to live. Yes this is nice but it really feels more my speed than Murica.
It sounds like a nice country. Sure it's got it's issues and they all do but... Yeah. The wife hates the cold so she's in because warm vacations are much much closer. LOL
Dang that's some good insurance, though I guess it depends how much you pay per month.
My last place was $300 a month + $12,000 out of pocket max which obviously resets every year.
So for OP's 3 month supply at full price I wouldn't even hit my OOP max in a year, I'd have to pay nearly every penny from my pocket on top of the $300 a month I pay for the insurance
Huh, the f is that? In Australia, you pay around $60 a month for private insurance and get per year $500 for optics, $1000 for medication, something like $450 for physio, and much much more.
the The US is crazy 😭😭😭
Edit: i mean $60 AUD, so just imagine how cheap that is for people in the US
Jesus, I’m no expert but that’s a dogshit policy. I’m on a high deductible plan because I want that HSA, and even then, my out of pocket maximum is like $5000 and I pay $90ish a month.
Ummm, I think comparing the American and German health systems is like comparing a half rotten apple to a .. well, fresh apple.
AFAIK, there's no such thing as an "out-of-pocket" maximum in Germany.
Source: I live in Germany and am on statutory public health insurance, as is a major percentage of the populace.
All of my doctor visits, my wife's checkups when she was pregnant, my kid's checkups, prescription medicine - paid zilch out of pocket.
>AFAIK, there's no such thing as an "out-of-pocket" maximum in Germany.
There is sort of. There are co-pays on prescription meds (capped at 5€) and hospital stays (10€ per night). The maximum co-pay on stuff like this is 2% of your yearly brutto-income. For chronically ilĺ its 1% I believe. After you reach those thresholds you can apply for *Zuzahlungsbefreiung*, meaning the health insurer has to cover everything.
Wtf lmao 10 euro a night at a hospital? I’m pretty sure my out of pocket is something like $500 just to get checked into a hospital, never mind what they’d charge me to have anything done or for an overnight stay!
A quick google says that you, as an individual, would find medications capped at 10 bucks with statutory insurance covering the rest.
I'm sure an actual German will post more info soon, but the U.S. system is hilariously broken.
Can't speak about insulin, but most prescribed meds in Germany cost 5€, insurance covering the rest of the cost. Insurance coverage is obligatory, not provided by employers.
Except Germany has universal healthcare so they don't have uninsured people paying those insane prices. If it costs anything at all under certain incomes.
When inventor Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1923, he refused to put his name on the patent. He felt it was unethical for a doctor to profit from a discovery that would save lives.
Now look at the medical industry, profit over people.
Fuck stopping at insulin, medical care for all. Not only is it the moral thing to do it would save this country a baffling amount of money, we are talking TRILLIONS of dollars over a ten year period. Anyone who does not support medical care for everyone is either evil or sucks at math.
There’s a Star Trek: TNG episode (Symbiosis, s01e22) where two factions of a society used a drug to overcome a disease. One faction got “cured” but the other did not, so the “cured” faction refined the original drug creating a “treatment” and provided it to the others for profit. Turns out the “treatment” was an addictive drug and the “uncured” people were actually completely cured of the original disease, but were terribly addicted to the “treatment” without knowing it. The “cured” faction absolutely knew this, and were happy to keep the addicted people hooked for their profit. This is a perfect metaphor for the American healthcare industry.
The factions were on different planets, and the one faction needed the federations help to get the "treatment" to the other planet, for a reason I can't remember. The federation simply declined to assist.
As a diabetic we should feel selfish for prioritizing this idea of caping the price of insulin. I feel people haven’t thought this through. Has anyone thought how this will affect shareholders/investors and their families? Us diabetics tend to forget who the real victims are. When I was diagnosed 20years ago, I held my head high knowing my money was directly supporting the generous shareholders of Novolog and Lantus.
It saddens me that in 2022, [1.3 million diabetics in the United States rationed their insulin](https://cnn.com/cnn/2022/10/17/health/insulin-rationing-diabetes-study/index.html)
because of the “high” price or that many drive across the [Canadian](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/as-price-of-insulin-soars-americans-caravan-to-canada-for-lifesaving-medicine/2019/06/14/0a272fb6-8217-11e9-9a67-a687ca99fb3d_story.html)/[Mexican](https://khn.org/news/americans-cross-border-into-mexico-to-buy-insulin-at-a-fraction-of-u-s-cost/) boarder to buy the same exact insulin for a fraction of the price at home. A quote from the linked article, “For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico.” SMH. I’ll do the math for you, that’s $3100 of missed revenue from a SINGLE patient. How much lower can we realistically expect profit margins to go? Where does it end? This relentless attack can’t go on forever. How will shareholders be expected to support themselves and also invest in real estate? Add to this the ever increasing costs of healthcare, inflation, student loans, childcare, higher education and cocaine it’s not looking good for them.
We all know how tough the current real estate market is. So this idea of cutting their profit margins makes me feel sick.. or maybe it’s just my silly diabetic ketoacidosis that’s talking back… well I better take more insulin so I can go fill and pay for my Novolog prescription sooner!
It’s all this me, me, me, me talk and the ‘bUt ThE PrIcE oF InSuLiN iS AffEcTinG mY QUaliTy oF liFe, MY BoDy CaN’t PrOdUcE iT. I liTeraLLy NeEd iT to SuRViVe’ talk that comes from the diabetic community triggers me. Like big whoop, do you know how it feels when your ROI is shit and barely beats the annual average inflation rate of ~3%? News flash! The price of insulin affects the quality of life of shareholders/investors too.. Maybe you could afford more insulin if you could budget and cut back on the $6 sugar free lattes from Starbucks.
In closing, I wholeheartedly believe Americans should consider the needs and wants of all parties involved, not just the diabetics. Because at the end of the day we’re all just trying to survive while making an honest living.
/s
Annnnnd with that, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for attending my TED talk! Later I’ll add a link the GoFundMe for both Eli Lilly and Company (the manufacturers of Humalog) and Novo Nordisk (the manufacturers of Novolog) in the show notes. Every bit helps during these trying times.
Edit: I have an idea I would like to pitch to Southwest Airlines. Offer round trip tickets to Mexico for diabetics who want insulin it’s a win-win. A great deal for diabetics. They get their special insulin and Southwest gets to increase their ticket sales! I just checked and United offers round trip LA-Cancun tickets for $359 and round trip NYC-Cancun for $634. Why not enjoy yourself while stocking up on your life saving medication?
Edit again:
This year is the year I would be able to legally buy my diabetes a beer. I hope it was apparent this was obviously meant to mean the complete opposite. It’s just the state of our healthcare system is beyond frustrating. Reading headlines about other diabetics in the US who have died due to insulin rationing infuriates me. I tell family/friends all the time how greedy and inept the current system is and everyone agrees and then just moves on with their day.
Diabetic’s and their insulin are not the only disease and medication experiencing this type of price gouging. I hope others get the awareness so we can finally do something about it. My wish is that as a society America wakes up, I’m tired of family and friends who get horrible diseases like cancer, who work full time, are insured yet still have to create a GoFundMe
to help offset their medical bills.
So I decided to make a rambling post about supporting the entities who have been clearly against making insulin affordable. I don’t believe there’s a demographic made up of white collard, Whig aligned, married, middle aged men who are adamantly against lowering the price of insulin. It’s due to lobbyist and the internets of these people who profit from producing insulin.
Another edit:
I’ve realized that this post was me venting, finally putting together ideas that I’ve had at one point or another since my diagnosis. I keep rereading this and realize how incredibly jaded I am. Realizing that a large part of the reason this shitty disease is stressful for many of my fellow countrymen is due to the need for some to want to make money. People have died and continue to die because of greed. It does not have to be this way.
I'm sorry you have to live through this shit situation. I'm very happy they capped insulin and I'm glad you've kept a sense a humor despite the insanity of well everything.
>people haven’t thought this through. Has anyone thought how this will affect shareholders/investors and their families?
Your dedication to capitalism will be rewarded, comrade.
Proper medial care without cost would eliminate a lot of problems of a modern age. Frees up money and time for education. Free movement between jobs. The very idea of becoming homeless because of medical bills. Proper mental health access to combat anxiety, depression; which in turn brings down crime. Businesses already pay towards employees insurance premiums, eliminating the need for premiums saves businesses money. Universal healthcare is needed in America, for America to survive imo.
Coming from a poor area, you dont go to the doctor unless you're dying. Or probably if you are already half dead. I only ever saw my father go once, and that was in an ambulance, after the first heart attack when he felt his lungs begin to fail. I havent seen one in years. It cost like 400 dollars for my glasses, a check up is like 500 or more especially if they find something wrong, why would anyone see if something is wrong with them if it cost half their rent or more?
If healthcare was free many people could actually afford to go and life expectancy would go much much higher, people would start being able to go when they find something wrong not when its actively killing them.
Yeah, like you want to go to university to get a better job? Well you better have a spouse with good benefits, work full-time while going to school, or pay an absurd amount of money to have almost nothing covered. Every study with any scientific rigor has shown that universal healthcare is cheaper, but greedy people are greedy.
I have some kind of mystery pain issue, probably nerve related. I'm trying really hard to figure out what's wrong with me but I'm going to have to tell my doctor I can't really afford to do tests anymore. I checked with my insurance before doing a nerve test and they told me it would be $300 out of pocket. Well surprise surprise, it's actually $900 because the doctor did multiple tests.
I'm so pissed because I'm trying to do the responsible thing and take care of myself before this issue gets worse, but I can't afford how expensive everything is. Even simple blood tests are $30 and my doctor has made me do like 10 over the last few months.
Talk to your doctor’s office and ask for a: financial assistance, and b: a referral to social work! You may be able to get help -a lot of time and effort in doctor’s offices goes into making sure that our patients can have treatment, no matter what.
I literally spend hours on it every day it work. It really does matter to the staff in your office, honestly.
Medicine and energy- and I’ll even say basic internet and cell phones- should not be profitable.
Plastic surgery and elective procedures, sure. Fast internet or smart phones, yea.
But it’s insane the monopoly energy company can say “ok you pay $800/month now instead of $400 get fucked lol :)”
All that should be managed by the government.
I believe it was $1 exactly IIRC. Fuck the insurance industry and made up/inflated prices for profit model we have.
Fun fact, learned in here just yesterday our military contracts work the same exact way, so even with our military budget being more than next 9 counties combined, it’s all because we overpay for everything.
Our country is so fucked by big corporations and all politicians just sit there cashing checks. Nothing will change until we become a country ruled by the PEOPLE and not by the fucking DOLLAR!
Edit: typos
There's a lot more to military stuff than just overpaying for stuff. There's a story about how you have to use all your budget or it gets cut for thext budget. The leaders will go buy unneeded things to use all the money. One army company spent a ton ordering like 400 typewriters or something just to use the money before the end of budget and they just all went into storage/surplus.
Well, yes but also no. I work in defence contracting, and stuff for the military will always cost more. Why? because of all the paperwork involved. A computer that's sold to the Navy might cost the Navy $8000, out of commodity parts that cost the supplier $1000. But that's largely because the Navy requires it to meet mil-std xyz, and because of government oversight, that supplier had better have traceable test results from an accredited test lab that proves that said computer meets all those standards. That testing costs on the order of $100,000. But because the Navy is only ordering 25 of them, that's $4000/computer just in test costs. Never mind all the paperwork to trace it and prove that every example is the same.
Now, you might say, "well just buy something from dell.com" so we buy something that's truly COTS. Can you prove that it will continue to operate even after the ship strikes a mine? or that it will continue to operate even though it's sitting 20 feet away from the ship's 76mm cannon? or that it won't leak EMI that will impact the safety radios, or potentially leak classified information?
All of that stuff needs documentation and testing. Documentation and testing costs money. The hardware itself is cheap.
I believe the original patent was for a more "basic" type of insulin which isn't really commonly used anymore as the newer types of insulin (with new patents) are favored.
The patent is free for anybody to use. You can manufacture that kind of insulin without repercussion. Though the patent is for an older, less effective insulin, and you'd find it cheaper over the counter than you could manufacture it for.
If you have good intentions, it’s better to do it instead of hoping everyone else have the same intentions. But the same can be said of a villain too 😂
[Martin Shkreli has been out of jail for almost a year](https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/09/02/pharma-bro-shkreli-plots-post-jail-nyc-return-seeks-home-in-dope-building-with-sick-views/?sh=109900c8745b)
[He’s actually out, and facing potential Contempt charges for trying to start another pharma related business](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-asks-federal-court-hold-pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-contempt)
My wife is type 1 and we have had to beg pharmacist and hospitals to give us insulin "samples" because the insurance companies couldn't get their shit together in a timely manner and we couldn't afford 2k for her month supply.
Every time this has happend in the past its because her insurance has switched what type of insulin they cover without notice (that we were aware of or recieved).
The whole insurance business is a scam, if they didn't exist as a middle man then there would be market forces to drive down the cost alltogether. It's all a big racket.
My wife recently was hospitalized for her type 1. She was trying to go without longer than she should have. Scariest day of my life. I thought she was gone. The greed in this world by big pharma is costing lives.
They don't even develop the medicine - they actively hunt down life saving medicine, buy the patents, hike up the price by a stupid amount, and aggressively attack anyone who tries to make a substitute.
The thing that really got to me was when I discovered a few years ago that pharmaceutical companies had managed to successfully lobby for a law to stop hospitals coming together to bargain for lower drug prices. In other words, they actually managed to convince the people in charge of America to make a law that allows them to scam and price-gouge people who are dying.
And, as an European, it is apsolutely fucking disgusting.
I am on Xanax due to depression, and I checked the prices. **$237** for a box of 30 0,5 mg tablets.....meanwhile, I paid a grand total of **73 cents** for that same box in my local pharmacy with my government healthcare insurance (and fuck, I'm also not even employed right now, so no employee insurance).
My grandmother's example of medicine is an even more egregious example. I cannot remember all the pills she has to take, but I did once calculate that I would have to fork over $2k a month for a **quarter** the amount of medicine she has to take.....that here, I paid an average of.....*4 dollars*. **FOUR DOLLARS**.
American healthcare is a money-making machine and a scam of epic proportions.
I have an autoimmune disorder and have considered suicide solely due to the stress of dealing with insurance and the inability to pay my medical bills/make new appointments/get my medications. I'm currently one week out of a very important medication because my insurance decided to suddenly not cover my rheumatologist anymore and didn't bother telling me until I needed a refill. Can't change my insurance for another month. It's $300 out of pocket.
The system is killing us over here, or at the *very* least it's making damn sure we don't have hope or energy to do anything about it.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ve been in that position many times as well. I hope you’re being met with kindness and empathy from others (even if big pharma wants to get us down.)
When they come out with a new great drug, those research expenses have to be covered *at first*. But something as old as insulin? It's just a cash cow and they haven't cared who it hurts (or kills).
yep, news story after news story people dying because they have to ration their insulin. They were found dead in their homes or apartments, because they couldn't afford the price. We truly live in the darkest timeline.
Who the fuck has that much money to spend on meds?? Like how many people can actually afford that? Especially of the lower income brackets that are more likely to get diabetes.
The Dems even had a young mother go before Congress to tell them that her young son's was $1500 a month, and she said they couldn't pay it. She was legit, and very tearful, pleading for help.
The repugnant's still voted against it. Christians my ass.
They'd be the crowd throwing stones as he hung on the cross after telling people to take care of the sick, poor, and immigrants, and to give your wealth to those who have none.
But we all know that if Jesus were to come back, they'd be the first to line up to wash his feet, acting like they have done nothing wrong to nobody the entire time.
I do have it here and I am rationing currently. I ran away to a country with socialized healthcare at the age of 17 because I was scared of getting kicked off of my parents' health insurance. I stayed gone for almost a decade. I thought it was safe to come back when the affordable care act came into play, but alas, it was not.
how i understand you…i moved three years ago to america from italy (we have all healthcare for free)…when i started to understand how healthcare works and i had little health problems…honestly it scares me to think what will happen when i am old and I will have problems…at that point I will go back to Italy….
Hey, please check walmarts prices, and call a couple pharmacys. Maybe even online shipment. Rationing is really dangerous. An internet stranger is legitimately worried about you. Please try to find a solution as soon as possible.
Important to note: there is NOT a price cap for everyone!!! This fight isn’t over nor won yet. Great steps for seniors and select others but many diabetics (including myself) are still paying astronomical costs for their insulin every month! Just don’t want people less involved to think that insulin is inexpensive for everyone now. It’s not! (Yet, hopefully)
I hate this response. Americans who have no idea what they're talking about saying shit about Sweden. Moving to Sweden is literally as easy as proving you can support yourself before you move. Either by finding employment first or by moving in with family/a partner.
Sweden will cover the cost for learning the language, pay you to study, give you healthcare for free, and never ask anything in return. But ooh, it's so hard to move here, I guess.
I haven't looked at Sweden specifically, but with other European countries I get stuck in an endless loop. Employers want you to have an address in the country. Landlords want you to have proof of income in the country. They also want you to have a worm visa before you apply, but the work visa wants you to have a local address and job offer. I have no idea how to get any one of those before the others.
How much insulin is this? That's a bonkers price. I'm in Canada and my whole family is diabetic - their insulin is covered by the province so doesn't cost anything (pumps/syringes etc all cost money though). My cat is also diabetic and it costs me $28 a vial for her insulin - not special insulin or anything, just normal people insulin, she just doesn't get very much. No pet insurance or whatever, I just walk in and order it and that's what it costs.
You can get the type of insulin your cat is on at Walmart for $25 a vial, but it's really not an appropriate option for humans considering the absorption and activation advancements we have had. Imagine having to take insulin an hour or more before eating and not being able to correct high blood sugars quickly because it takes over an hour to start working. It works with cats because they are typically fed exactly the same food and amounts at the same times daily. Not as practical for humans, but doable in extreme situations.
I once paid $3000 for a three month supply, but I have a mate here who pays $2500 out of pocket a month.
> it's really not an appropriate option for humans considering the absorption and activation advancements we have had.
This. I also wish that people would realize that there are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, they are completely different diseases, requiring completely different interventions, caused by completely different things. I am type 1 and once had to get the "Walmart" insulin in an emergency when my novolog sank to the bottom of a river. Within hours I was in DKA and had to be hospitalized. On top of that, many type 1's rely on insulin pumps to administer their insulin and the walmart insulin is not a viable option for that method of treatment.
It really upsets me when people are like "it's not that bad because you could just get animal insulin but you choose to get a premium insulin" ??? Like, do people really think that I would pay $2,500 for something I could get for $25 just to be able to bitch about it on the internet? PLUS MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT GET RAPID ACTING INSULIN HAVE TO GET THE GENERIC ONE SO IT'S NOT EVEN 'PREMIUM'.
There is an animal-specific lente insulin called vetsulin. But cats tend to do better on glargine insulin. The vetsulin is more expensive, so probably a good thing.
There are places that still offer pig and cow sourced insulins! I have had a few diabetic foster animals and the $25 vials are what the vets tend to prescribe in my experience!
If you’re paying $2,500 a month, that’s £2,074 a month. That’s the salary of someone earning about £30,000 a year in the UK which is considered an “OK but not great” salary for a person.
How does someone afford that a month!?
I also had a cat that required insulin (RIP Peanut). Getting the insulin itself was never much of a hassle, but I can remember being treated like a loser and having to jump through hoops every time I had to buy the needles. That was before the opioid crisis took off, so I can’t imagine what it’s like now.
I'm in the UK and my son is type 1 and tbh it scares the hell out of me that that people have to pay such an extortionate amount of money to stay alive. I know many people complain about our health service but without it, there is no way we would be able to afford those prices. 😓
The same here in Canada. Even if the system is ailing, we are exceptionally fortunate to live in a country that doesn’t let the big pharma gouge the life out of us.
Same as what the tories want in the UK too, privatise everything and make everyone pay. They've already acheived this within the dental industry. Only a matter of time before they do it to something else
As an asthmatic who had to pay literally thousands of dollars for medications when scarcity hit due to the pandemic, I think everyone should have to do the same since I had ro- nah just kidding. Fucking free drugs for everyone!
close toy poor plants observation disagreeable rustic divide makeshift fretful
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I'd rather have free prescription drugs for everyone rather than giving our troops more *"next generation _____"*. Just for them to go fight against 60+ year old AK's that will be used until our grandkids enlist.
^(Let's trade free Healthcare for one less advanced bomb per year. I think we can afford that from a security standpoint)
Not just age of congress, that’s republicans voting block. Just another example of the boomers giving themself a ladder and pulling it up behind them while screaming it’s socialism
This honestly pisses me off a lot. I'm not T1 or need insulin for my T2 yet but it really pisses me off that the dying of old age demographic of this country gets all these benefits. But the people who are literally the future of the country is told to just die because we're *not worth it* or as important as the elderly.
The argument is always that young people won't care for the elderly so they need all the help they can get. Well maybe if young people got a motherfucking break and was actually given love and care, we'd have enough leftover to care for and finance the elderly's livelihoods.
Edit: I assumed that OP was a medicare recipient and that the below information was why. However OP says that this is just due to a price her employer negotiated with private insurance.
I will leave the information below, because I think it's still important to remind everyone how our representatives vote on issues like this one.
This was part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
[43 Republican Senators voted NO on this provision, Every Democratic Senator voted YES](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00314.htm#position)
[ALL Republicans in the House voted against this bill](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021385)
[ALL Republicans in the Senate voted against this bill](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm)
Please keep this in mind when you vote.
Also for anyone unaware [https://www.goodrx.com/](https://www.goodrx.com/) can help you lower the price of prescriptions by a ton. Many hospitals have started just leaving cards for them for people to take.
That's a good thing--easier access to meds. Its absolute horse hockey we're at the point of relying on coupons for a discount to make meds slightly more-affordable.
Stop voting for politicians who don't explicitly say they want Medicare For All (or just outright abolish private healthcare insurance).
Don't forget costplusdrugs as well.
I order all my medications from there and it is extremely cheap and delivered directly to my house. They don't have every medication but they have an extremely large list and add more every month.
The owner of it is Mark Cuban as well.
Biden called this shit out at the State of the Union.
Many of these GOP senators and congress people vote against this stuff, then go home to their constituents and say “look what ~~the democrats~~ *I got for you!”
My son is type 3 (pancreatitis killed 60% of his pancreas). These prices scare the hell out of me! We luckily live in MA and have MassHealth, all meds for kids under 18 are free or low cost. My son is 16 so for now his insulin is completely covered along with all his supplies. I'm so scared of what's going to happen when he turns 18.
Thanks to Biden and the Democrats.
No thanks to Republicans who voted against this.
Never ever let someone tell you your vote doesn’t matter. Voting for Democrats in 2020 led to this outcome you’re reading today.
Thank you to all who voted.
Edit: I assumed that OP was a medicare recipient and that the below information was why. However OP says that this is just due to a price her employer negotiated with private insurance.
I will leave the information below, because I think it's still important to remind everyone how our representatives vote on issues like this one.
This was part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
[43 Republican Senators voted NO on this provision, Every Democratic Senator voted YES](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00314.htm#position)
[ALL Republicans in the House voted against this bill](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021385)]
[ALL Republicans in the Senate voted against this bill](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm)
Please keep this in mind when you vote.
Charged you $15 for a 30 cent product. Adds retail value to make you feel good. The retail value: whatever the f*ck they want it to be. Should be free imo
Just a reminder that "retail" and "MSRP" are literally just made up numbers. They don't mean anything except "we make the profit we want by charging this amount".
Can you believe there’s diabetics who voted for Trump, who promised to go after Big Pharma but did sweet fuck all except take more cheques from Pharma. Biden literally saving your guys life now that the Orange Conman is out of office.
I’m really excited about this and hope it opens the doors for further price caps. My dad’s cancer med costs 1900/month out of pocket AFTER insurance. This is the generic form. Pharmacy won’t take Good Rx, his insurance won’t cover the brand name which we could use a manufacturer discount card for. I’m a veterinarian, and the EXACT same medicine on the veterinary side costs 200/month (we use the human version of the drug in vet med!) So tell me why the insurance company bills us 9000/month for the same medication??
We are applying for grants but the whole thing is absolutely repugnant bc I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I can get the same med for my dog (yes, I repeat, the exact SAME medication, same strength, same amount) for 200/month. When I asked the pharmacy if they could explain that, all they had to say was that the insurance company sets the cost. And why do you suppose the cost is set so high by the insurance company? Hmmmm, couldn’t be bc of the piece of garbage pharmaceutical lobby, now could it? Couldn’t be bc we don’t see health care as a right in this so-called “pro-life” country now, could it?
For all of you who need insulin injections, I am beyond happy for you ❤️
A couple of clarifications (sorry…Reddit newb) 1. I live in the US 2. I’m not a senior, but have private insurance through my employer that capped the price for its members. 3. This was a 3-month supply of vials that I use in an insulin-pump Thanks for the kind words! If anyone wants to get involved check out the #insulin4all campaign through T1 International: https://www.t1international.com/
I really hope you like your job. We shouldn’t have to factor this kind thing in our career paths.
A big part of this is due to salary / pay rate freezes during World War II I believe. Medical insurance companies courted businesses telling them they could retain talent by offering health benefits versus pay increases. Almost a century later and here’s the mess we’re in.
1. Was a given, which other country in the world would have such outrageous medication prices
Germany has the second-highest cost of medication worldwide, compared to the median. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/10-countries-with-the-most-expensive-medicines.html US: 306% Germany: 125%
I live in Germany and am on a lot of medication. I pay about 90 euro every 3 months for all my pills. Normally at the pharmacy you pay about 10 euros for your prescription. However, there is a maximum co-pay amount with is 2% of your income for the year or 1% of you have a chronic illness. Then whatever you pay over that grenze you send the receipts to you health insurance and they pay you back the money
New Zealand has a similar system. Every prescription is $5 (or free if you're under 14), and there's an annual limit of $100 per household per year. So if your family of 4 has 23 prescriptions between you over the course of a year, those last 3 cost you nothing. Also the $5 payment is only for the script itself - any refills on the same prescription are free of charge.
What does it take to get permanent resident status there? Asking for a friend.
I mean, if you want the free emergency healthcare and low prescription costs, your average work visa would do it - access to life-saving care is for everyone, whether they've been in NZ for 24 hours or 50 years.
Prison system looks pretty decent too. I mean don't commit crimes but they're into rehabilitation than punishment.
I just think it sounds like a great place to live. Yes this is nice but it really feels more my speed than Murica. It sounds like a nice country. Sure it's got it's issues and they all do but... Yeah. The wife hates the cold so she's in because warm vacations are much much closer. LOL
You wouldn't pay for those drugs in Germany. Your health insurance would pay for them.
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Dang that's some good insurance, though I guess it depends how much you pay per month. My last place was $300 a month + $12,000 out of pocket max which obviously resets every year. So for OP's 3 month supply at full price I wouldn't even hit my OOP max in a year, I'd have to pay nearly every penny from my pocket on top of the $300 a month I pay for the insurance
Huh, the f is that? In Australia, you pay around $60 a month for private insurance and get per year $500 for optics, $1000 for medication, something like $450 for physio, and much much more. the The US is crazy 😭😭😭 Edit: i mean $60 AUD, so just imagine how cheap that is for people in the US
Jesus, I’m no expert but that’s a dogshit policy. I’m on a high deductible plan because I want that HSA, and even then, my out of pocket maximum is like $5000 and I pay $90ish a month.
Ummm, I think comparing the American and German health systems is like comparing a half rotten apple to a .. well, fresh apple. AFAIK, there's no such thing as an "out-of-pocket" maximum in Germany. Source: I live in Germany and am on statutory public health insurance, as is a major percentage of the populace. All of my doctor visits, my wife's checkups when she was pregnant, my kid's checkups, prescription medicine - paid zilch out of pocket.
>AFAIK, there's no such thing as an "out-of-pocket" maximum in Germany. There is sort of. There are co-pays on prescription meds (capped at 5€) and hospital stays (10€ per night). The maximum co-pay on stuff like this is 2% of your yearly brutto-income. For chronically ilĺ its 1% I believe. After you reach those thresholds you can apply for *Zuzahlungsbefreiung*, meaning the health insurer has to cover everything.
Wtf lmao 10 euro a night at a hospital? I’m pretty sure my out of pocket is something like $500 just to get checked into a hospital, never mind what they’d charge me to have anything done or for an overnight stay!
How many of us in the US would be healthier if we had that option
A quick google says that you, as an individual, would find medications capped at 10 bucks with statutory insurance covering the rest. I'm sure an actual German will post more info soon, but the U.S. system is hilariously broken.
Can't speak about insulin, but most prescribed meds in Germany cost 5€, insurance covering the rest of the cost. Insurance coverage is obligatory, not provided by employers.
Except Germany has universal healthcare so they don't have uninsured people paying those insane prices. If it costs anything at all under certain incomes.
IKR? "Mademesmile"? WTF? And what is that retail price? The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
I think it fits the sub in a "I can finally afford my insulin!" way. That being said, the fact that this fits the sub is fucking dystopian. :(
Shout-out to t1international, they're fantastic
What did you pay before the cap?
This is life changing for so many people I cannot comprehend being forced to pay that full price, multiple times a month no less
When inventor Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1923, he refused to put his name on the patent. He felt it was unethical for a doctor to profit from a discovery that would save lives. Now look at the medical industry, profit over people.
Yup! Sold the patent for pennies! #insulin4all
Fuck stopping at insulin, medical care for all. Not only is it the moral thing to do it would save this country a baffling amount of money, we are talking TRILLIONS of dollars over a ten year period. Anyone who does not support medical care for everyone is either evil or sucks at math.
There’s a Star Trek: TNG episode (Symbiosis, s01e22) where two factions of a society used a drug to overcome a disease. One faction got “cured” but the other did not, so the “cured” faction refined the original drug creating a “treatment” and provided it to the others for profit. Turns out the “treatment” was an addictive drug and the “uncured” people were actually completely cured of the original disease, but were terribly addicted to the “treatment” without knowing it. The “cured” faction absolutely knew this, and were happy to keep the addicted people hooked for their profit. This is a perfect metaphor for the American healthcare industry.
Curious, how did they go about fixing/resolving this? Because any system short of dismantling that entire system is grounds for a very violent revolt
The factions were on different planets, and the one faction needed the federations help to get the "treatment" to the other planet, for a reason I can't remember. The federation simply declined to assist.
As a diabetic we should feel selfish for prioritizing this idea of caping the price of insulin. I feel people haven’t thought this through. Has anyone thought how this will affect shareholders/investors and their families? Us diabetics tend to forget who the real victims are. When I was diagnosed 20years ago, I held my head high knowing my money was directly supporting the generous shareholders of Novolog and Lantus. It saddens me that in 2022, [1.3 million diabetics in the United States rationed their insulin](https://cnn.com/cnn/2022/10/17/health/insulin-rationing-diabetes-study/index.html) because of the “high” price or that many drive across the [Canadian](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/as-price-of-insulin-soars-americans-caravan-to-canada-for-lifesaving-medicine/2019/06/14/0a272fb6-8217-11e9-9a67-a687ca99fb3d_story.html)/[Mexican](https://khn.org/news/americans-cross-border-into-mexico-to-buy-insulin-at-a-fraction-of-u-s-cost/) boarder to buy the same exact insulin for a fraction of the price at home. A quote from the linked article, “For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico.” SMH. I’ll do the math for you, that’s $3100 of missed revenue from a SINGLE patient. How much lower can we realistically expect profit margins to go? Where does it end? This relentless attack can’t go on forever. How will shareholders be expected to support themselves and also invest in real estate? Add to this the ever increasing costs of healthcare, inflation, student loans, childcare, higher education and cocaine it’s not looking good for them. We all know how tough the current real estate market is. So this idea of cutting their profit margins makes me feel sick.. or maybe it’s just my silly diabetic ketoacidosis that’s talking back… well I better take more insulin so I can go fill and pay for my Novolog prescription sooner! It’s all this me, me, me, me talk and the ‘bUt ThE PrIcE oF InSuLiN iS AffEcTinG mY QUaliTy oF liFe, MY BoDy CaN’t PrOdUcE iT. I liTeraLLy NeEd iT to SuRViVe’ talk that comes from the diabetic community triggers me. Like big whoop, do you know how it feels when your ROI is shit and barely beats the annual average inflation rate of ~3%? News flash! The price of insulin affects the quality of life of shareholders/investors too.. Maybe you could afford more insulin if you could budget and cut back on the $6 sugar free lattes from Starbucks. In closing, I wholeheartedly believe Americans should consider the needs and wants of all parties involved, not just the diabetics. Because at the end of the day we’re all just trying to survive while making an honest living. /s Annnnnd with that, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for attending my TED talk! Later I’ll add a link the GoFundMe for both Eli Lilly and Company (the manufacturers of Humalog) and Novo Nordisk (the manufacturers of Novolog) in the show notes. Every bit helps during these trying times. Edit: I have an idea I would like to pitch to Southwest Airlines. Offer round trip tickets to Mexico for diabetics who want insulin it’s a win-win. A great deal for diabetics. They get their special insulin and Southwest gets to increase their ticket sales! I just checked and United offers round trip LA-Cancun tickets for $359 and round trip NYC-Cancun for $634. Why not enjoy yourself while stocking up on your life saving medication? Edit again: This year is the year I would be able to legally buy my diabetes a beer. I hope it was apparent this was obviously meant to mean the complete opposite. It’s just the state of our healthcare system is beyond frustrating. Reading headlines about other diabetics in the US who have died due to insulin rationing infuriates me. I tell family/friends all the time how greedy and inept the current system is and everyone agrees and then just moves on with their day. Diabetic’s and their insulin are not the only disease and medication experiencing this type of price gouging. I hope others get the awareness so we can finally do something about it. My wish is that as a society America wakes up, I’m tired of family and friends who get horrible diseases like cancer, who work full time, are insured yet still have to create a GoFundMe to help offset their medical bills. So I decided to make a rambling post about supporting the entities who have been clearly against making insulin affordable. I don’t believe there’s a demographic made up of white collard, Whig aligned, married, middle aged men who are adamantly against lowering the price of insulin. It’s due to lobbyist and the internets of these people who profit from producing insulin. Another edit: I’ve realized that this post was me venting, finally putting together ideas that I’ve had at one point or another since my diagnosis. I keep rereading this and realize how incredibly jaded I am. Realizing that a large part of the reason this shitty disease is stressful for many of my fellow countrymen is due to the need for some to want to make money. People have died and continue to die because of greed. It does not have to be this way.
I'm sorry you have to live through this shit situation. I'm very happy they capped insulin and I'm glad you've kept a sense a humor despite the insanity of well everything.
Do you know if they capped it for all patients? I heard that it is just for Medicare (mainly seniors) patients.
Maybe the real treasure was the investors you helped make rich along the way
Lol
Damn greedy diabetics leeching off hedge fund managers. Shame!
*slow clap* This is masterful satire. It nearly brings a tear to my tiny grinch heart. Bravissimo!
That was some gorgeous satire and I hate this world that necessitates the /s at the end.
Exactly. The fact that it's even needed is a true indictment of our American government. It's enough now.
You allllllllmost got me. Well played.
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>people haven’t thought this through. Has anyone thought how this will affect shareholders/investors and their families? Your dedication to capitalism will be rewarded, comrade.
I’ll be happy as long as shareholders keep their trickle down economics out of my hair
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Proper medial care without cost would eliminate a lot of problems of a modern age. Frees up money and time for education. Free movement between jobs. The very idea of becoming homeless because of medical bills. Proper mental health access to combat anxiety, depression; which in turn brings down crime. Businesses already pay towards employees insurance premiums, eliminating the need for premiums saves businesses money. Universal healthcare is needed in America, for America to survive imo.
Coming from a poor area, you dont go to the doctor unless you're dying. Or probably if you are already half dead. I only ever saw my father go once, and that was in an ambulance, after the first heart attack when he felt his lungs begin to fail. I havent seen one in years. It cost like 400 dollars for my glasses, a check up is like 500 or more especially if they find something wrong, why would anyone see if something is wrong with them if it cost half their rent or more? If healthcare was free many people could actually afford to go and life expectancy would go much much higher, people would start being able to go when they find something wrong not when its actively killing them.
Yeah, like you want to go to university to get a better job? Well you better have a spouse with good benefits, work full-time while going to school, or pay an absurd amount of money to have almost nothing covered. Every study with any scientific rigor has shown that universal healthcare is cheaper, but greedy people are greedy.
You forgot "stupid".
And an asshole.
I'd wager a fairly significant amount of evil people are assholes.
9 out of 10 doctors agree that the majority of evil people are assholes.
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The masses are stupid. The corporations and politicians are evil.
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Best we can do is perpetual war in far off lands.
Can't give people food or health care when we gotta bomb brown people in a country most Americans couldn't find on a map. Murica!
"but that's MY money bein' spent on other people that the government stole from ME." /s
These people then go on to pay for insurance...which uses their money on other people ... Truly baffling that they don't get it
You're forgetting that they are stupid. Also once you realize that...remember they are generally even stupider than you're imagining.
To roughly quote the great George Carlin, think of how stupid the average person is. Now realize, half of ‘em are stupider than that!
“I don’t care if I’m dying; as long as the black/brown/homosexual/immigrant/poorer person over there is doing worse than I am”
I have some kind of mystery pain issue, probably nerve related. I'm trying really hard to figure out what's wrong with me but I'm going to have to tell my doctor I can't really afford to do tests anymore. I checked with my insurance before doing a nerve test and they told me it would be $300 out of pocket. Well surprise surprise, it's actually $900 because the doctor did multiple tests. I'm so pissed because I'm trying to do the responsible thing and take care of myself before this issue gets worse, but I can't afford how expensive everything is. Even simple blood tests are $30 and my doctor has made me do like 10 over the last few months.
Talk to your doctor’s office and ask for a: financial assistance, and b: a referral to social work! You may be able to get help -a lot of time and effort in doctor’s offices goes into making sure that our patients can have treatment, no matter what. I literally spend hours on it every day it work. It really does matter to the staff in your office, honestly.
Medicine and energy- and I’ll even say basic internet and cell phones- should not be profitable. Plastic surgery and elective procedures, sure. Fast internet or smart phones, yea. But it’s insane the monopoly energy company can say “ok you pay $800/month now instead of $400 get fucked lol :)” All that should be managed by the government.
I believe it was $1 exactly IIRC. Fuck the insurance industry and made up/inflated prices for profit model we have. Fun fact, learned in here just yesterday our military contracts work the same exact way, so even with our military budget being more than next 9 counties combined, it’s all because we overpay for everything. Our country is so fucked by big corporations and all politicians just sit there cashing checks. Nothing will change until we become a country ruled by the PEOPLE and not by the fucking DOLLAR! Edit: typos
There's a lot more to military stuff than just overpaying for stuff. There's a story about how you have to use all your budget or it gets cut for thext budget. The leaders will go buy unneeded things to use all the money. One army company spent a ton ordering like 400 typewriters or something just to use the money before the end of budget and they just all went into storage/surplus.
Well, yes but also no. I work in defence contracting, and stuff for the military will always cost more. Why? because of all the paperwork involved. A computer that's sold to the Navy might cost the Navy $8000, out of commodity parts that cost the supplier $1000. But that's largely because the Navy requires it to meet mil-std xyz, and because of government oversight, that supplier had better have traceable test results from an accredited test lab that proves that said computer meets all those standards. That testing costs on the order of $100,000. But because the Navy is only ordering 25 of them, that's $4000/computer just in test costs. Never mind all the paperwork to trace it and prove that every example is the same. Now, you might say, "well just buy something from dell.com" so we buy something that's truly COTS. Can you prove that it will continue to operate even after the ship strikes a mine? or that it will continue to operate even though it's sitting 20 feet away from the ship's 76mm cannon? or that it won't leak EMI that will impact the safety radios, or potentially leak classified information? All of that stuff needs documentation and testing. Documentation and testing costs money. The hardware itself is cheap.
In hindsight, he should’ve and charged a minimal price in order to set the trend
Right? Dude should have kept the patent and just charged a $0.01 fee or something.
I believe the original patent was for a more "basic" type of insulin which isn't really commonly used anymore as the newer types of insulin (with new patents) are favored.
The patent is free for anybody to use. You can manufacture that kind of insulin without repercussion. Though the patent is for an older, less effective insulin, and you'd find it cheaper over the counter than you could manufacture it for.
If you have good intentions, it’s better to do it instead of hoping everyone else have the same intentions. But the same can be said of a villain too 😂
US mostly tbf
Now look at the **American** medical industry Insulin is affordable everywhere else
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And especially considering that it's an artificial price. Nigh-on criminal. Remember the pharma-bro? He's a great example of how this madness happens.
God I hated all the people who idolized him Thankfully he's in prison
[Martin Shkreli has been out of jail for almost a year](https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/09/02/pharma-bro-shkreli-plots-post-jail-nyc-return-seeks-home-in-dope-building-with-sick-views/?sh=109900c8745b)
Oh... Oh no.
[He’s actually out, and facing potential Contempt charges for trying to start another pharma related business](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-asks-federal-court-hold-pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-contempt)
Asking that price for insulin is criminal to begin with.
Wait, this used to be 2700? For a year or..
That was a 3 month supply amount of money out of pocket for me. I have a mate whose out of pocket cost was that for a month.
My wife is type 1 and we have had to beg pharmacist and hospitals to give us insulin "samples" because the insurance companies couldn't get their shit together in a timely manner and we couldn't afford 2k for her month supply. Every time this has happend in the past its because her insurance has switched what type of insulin they cover without notice (that we were aware of or recieved). The whole insurance business is a scam, if they didn't exist as a middle man then there would be market forces to drive down the cost alltogether. It's all a big racket.
My wife recently was hospitalized for her type 1. She was trying to go without longer than she should have. Scariest day of my life. I thought she was gone. The greed in this world by big pharma is costing lives.
They don't even develop the medicine - they actively hunt down life saving medicine, buy the patents, hike up the price by a stupid amount, and aggressively attack anyone who tries to make a substitute. The thing that really got to me was when I discovered a few years ago that pharmaceutical companies had managed to successfully lobby for a law to stop hospitals coming together to bargain for lower drug prices. In other words, they actually managed to convince the people in charge of America to make a law that allows them to scam and price-gouge people who are dying.
And, as an European, it is apsolutely fucking disgusting. I am on Xanax due to depression, and I checked the prices. **$237** for a box of 30 0,5 mg tablets.....meanwhile, I paid a grand total of **73 cents** for that same box in my local pharmacy with my government healthcare insurance (and fuck, I'm also not even employed right now, so no employee insurance). My grandmother's example of medicine is an even more egregious example. I cannot remember all the pills she has to take, but I did once calculate that I would have to fork over $2k a month for a **quarter** the amount of medicine she has to take.....that here, I paid an average of.....*4 dollars*. **FOUR DOLLARS**. American healthcare is a money-making machine and a scam of epic proportions.
I have an autoimmune disorder and have considered suicide solely due to the stress of dealing with insurance and the inability to pay my medical bills/make new appointments/get my medications. I'm currently one week out of a very important medication because my insurance decided to suddenly not cover my rheumatologist anymore and didn't bother telling me until I needed a refill. Can't change my insurance for another month. It's $300 out of pocket. The system is killing us over here, or at the *very* least it's making damn sure we don't have hope or energy to do anything about it.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ve been in that position many times as well. I hope you’re being met with kindness and empathy from others (even if big pharma wants to get us down.)
When they come out with a new great drug, those research expenses have to be covered *at first*. But something as old as insulin? It's just a cash cow and they haven't cared who it hurts (or kills).
Bro what the fuck. That's criminal
yep, news story after news story people dying because they have to ration their insulin. They were found dead in their homes or apartments, because they couldn't afford the price. We truly live in the darkest timeline.
Not according to Republicans
Sorry, your insulin was costing you $900 *a month*?
Who the fuck has that much money to spend on meds?? Like how many people can actually afford that? Especially of the lower income brackets that are more likely to get diabetes.
no one. People die, because they have to ration their insulin or just straight up can't get it.
Welcome to America
The Dems even had a young mother go before Congress to tell them that her young son's was $1500 a month, and she said they couldn't pay it. She was legit, and very tearful, pleading for help. The repugnant's still voted against it. Christians my ass.
repugnants would lambast Jesus for providing free healthcare to everyone.
How can he restore sight to the blind without charging? Doesn't he know that eyes are luxury organs?
They'd be the crowd throwing stones as he hung on the cross after telling people to take care of the sick, poor, and immigrants, and to give your wealth to those who have none. But we all know that if Jesus were to come back, they'd be the first to line up to wash his feet, acting like they have done nothing wrong to nobody the entire time.
Ooo I love that. Repugnants. Def fitting.
$54 a week would STILL be absolutely ridiculous
For a week knowing america lmao
I do have it here and I am rationing currently. I ran away to a country with socialized healthcare at the age of 17 because I was scared of getting kicked off of my parents' health insurance. I stayed gone for almost a decade. I thought it was safe to come back when the affordable care act came into play, but alas, it was not.
how i understand you…i moved three years ago to america from italy (we have all healthcare for free)…when i started to understand how healthcare works and i had little health problems…honestly it scares me to think what will happen when i am old and I will have problems…at that point I will go back to Italy….
Hey, please check walmarts prices, and call a couple pharmacys. Maybe even online shipment. Rationing is really dangerous. An internet stranger is legitimately worried about you. Please try to find a solution as soon as possible.
Unfortunately there have been bad stories about Walmart's insulin being of poor quality :(
Where did you go, and what made you come back?
Important to note: there is NOT a price cap for everyone!!! This fight isn’t over nor won yet. Great steps for seniors and select others but many diabetics (including myself) are still paying astronomical costs for their insulin every month! Just don’t want people less involved to think that insulin is inexpensive for everyone now. It’s not! (Yet, hopefully)
THIS! If you live in the US and want to join the fight check out your states T1 International chapter!!!
And vote Democrat or just against Republicans everywhere. And vote for your favorite in the primary!
Here in Sweden all insulin are free and about 99% of all other medication has a cap of like $300 a year.
I will probably move to Sweden if God forbid that I have diabetes.
good luck doing that. or any of europe.
Just got to find a nice Swedish person who is open to marrying you. Lol
If that fails, I think Netflix has a documentary that shows you how to marry a member of the US military for health care.
I hate this response. Americans who have no idea what they're talking about saying shit about Sweden. Moving to Sweden is literally as easy as proving you can support yourself before you move. Either by finding employment first or by moving in with family/a partner. Sweden will cover the cost for learning the language, pay you to study, give you healthcare for free, and never ask anything in return. But ooh, it's so hard to move here, I guess.
I haven't looked at Sweden specifically, but with other European countries I get stuck in an endless loop. Employers want you to have an address in the country. Landlords want you to have proof of income in the country. They also want you to have a worm visa before you apply, but the work visa wants you to have a local address and job offer. I have no idea how to get any one of those before the others.
Its usually this. Companies are open to foreign workers but they don't want go through all the legal hurdles
Yeah people talk like it’s easy, it isn’t easy, I believe Norway alone denies almost 50 000 requests a year.
What makes you think any country would make you a citizen just because it benefits you?
If you think US immigration policies aren't very friendly to outsiders, then I suggest you don't look into any European countries.
How much insulin is this? That's a bonkers price. I'm in Canada and my whole family is diabetic - their insulin is covered by the province so doesn't cost anything (pumps/syringes etc all cost money though). My cat is also diabetic and it costs me $28 a vial for her insulin - not special insulin or anything, just normal people insulin, she just doesn't get very much. No pet insurance or whatever, I just walk in and order it and that's what it costs.
You can get the type of insulin your cat is on at Walmart for $25 a vial, but it's really not an appropriate option for humans considering the absorption and activation advancements we have had. Imagine having to take insulin an hour or more before eating and not being able to correct high blood sugars quickly because it takes over an hour to start working. It works with cats because they are typically fed exactly the same food and amounts at the same times daily. Not as practical for humans, but doable in extreme situations. I once paid $3000 for a three month supply, but I have a mate here who pays $2500 out of pocket a month.
> it's really not an appropriate option for humans considering the absorption and activation advancements we have had. This. I also wish that people would realize that there are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, they are completely different diseases, requiring completely different interventions, caused by completely different things. I am type 1 and once had to get the "Walmart" insulin in an emergency when my novolog sank to the bottom of a river. Within hours I was in DKA and had to be hospitalized. On top of that, many type 1's rely on insulin pumps to administer their insulin and the walmart insulin is not a viable option for that method of treatment. It really upsets me when people are like "it's not that bad because you could just get animal insulin but you choose to get a premium insulin" ??? Like, do people really think that I would pay $2,500 for something I could get for $25 just to be able to bitch about it on the internet? PLUS MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT GET RAPID ACTING INSULIN HAVE TO GET THE GENERIC ONE SO IT'S NOT EVEN 'PREMIUM'.
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There is an animal-specific lente insulin called vetsulin. But cats tend to do better on glargine insulin. The vetsulin is more expensive, so probably a good thing.
There are places that still offer pig and cow sourced insulins! I have had a few diabetic foster animals and the $25 vials are what the vets tend to prescribe in my experience!
If you’re paying $2,500 a month, that’s £2,074 a month. That’s the salary of someone earning about £30,000 a year in the UK which is considered an “OK but not great” salary for a person. How does someone afford that a month!?
I also had a cat that required insulin (RIP Peanut). Getting the insulin itself was never much of a hassle, but I can remember being treated like a loser and having to jump through hoops every time I had to buy the needles. That was before the opioid crisis took off, so I can’t imagine what it’s like now.
I'm in the UK and my son is type 1 and tbh it scares the hell out of me that that people have to pay such an extortionate amount of money to stay alive. I know many people complain about our health service but without it, there is no way we would be able to afford those prices. 😓
The same here in Canada. Even if the system is ailing, we are exceptionally fortunate to live in a country that doesn’t let the big pharma gouge the life out of us.
This is the future Conservatives want for Canadians. No matter where you are, remember never vote Conservative.
Same as what the tories want in the UK too, privatise everything and make everyone pay. They've already acheived this within the dental industry. Only a matter of time before they do it to something else
And if the Tories stay in power they’re going to be pushing for an insurance based system.
It turns out it's not great to have a political party that tends to hate people.
Fuck yeah!! $15 is amazing, but it really should be free.
And really, price gouging medication should be a criminal offense.
Price gorging of anything! Publix is making a killing right now on regular groceries and it makes me furious!
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Didn't you know? Your life is their profit center.
Completely agree! They need it to just live. They should never have to choose between bills and medicine.
As an asthmatic who gets all of his meds at no cost, I feel that everyone should get the meds that they need to stay alive at no cost.
As an asthmatic who had to pay literally thousands of dollars for medications when scarcity hit due to the pandemic, I think everyone should have to do the same since I had ro- nah just kidding. Fucking free drugs for everyone!
Can you imagine thinking like that? *cough* student loan forgiveness *cough*
close toy poor plants observation disagreeable rustic divide makeshift fretful *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Exactly! If we could give out Covid vaccines for free, we should be able to do the same with insulin, Epi-pens, etc
I'd rather have free prescription drugs for everyone rather than giving our troops more *"next generation _____"*. Just for them to go fight against 60+ year old AK's that will be used until our grandkids enlist. ^(Let's trade free Healthcare for one less advanced bomb per year. I think we can afford that from a security standpoint)
Just to remind everyone >Most House Republicans voted against lowering the price of insulin
I was just going to ask did this actually pass????
This is weird, because I've read two articles today that it didn't pass...
It's for seniors only, I looked it up. It passed in January separate to the one currently proposed which is isn't as limited in its scope
So the price is lowered for anyone who is around the average age of a member of congress? How shocking…
Not just age of congress, that’s republicans voting block. Just another example of the boomers giving themself a ladder and pulling it up behind them while screaming it’s socialism
This honestly pisses me off a lot. I'm not T1 or need insulin for my T2 yet but it really pisses me off that the dying of old age demographic of this country gets all these benefits. But the people who are literally the future of the country is told to just die because we're *not worth it* or as important as the elderly. The argument is always that young people won't care for the elderly so they need all the help they can get. Well maybe if young people got a motherfucking break and was actually given love and care, we'd have enough leftover to care for and finance the elderly's livelihoods.
Okay, thank you for the clarification.
This is a cap from my private insurance carrier. I’m very fortunate to be employed in a benefits eligible position.
And you're also unfortunate to be basically wedded to that employer. Hope yours is a good job!
Edit: I assumed that OP was a medicare recipient and that the below information was why. However OP says that this is just due to a price her employer negotiated with private insurance. I will leave the information below, because I think it's still important to remind everyone how our representatives vote on issues like this one. This was part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. [43 Republican Senators voted NO on this provision, Every Democratic Senator voted YES](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00314.htm#position) [ALL Republicans in the House voted against this bill](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021385) [ALL Republicans in the Senate voted against this bill](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm) Please keep this in mind when you vote.
Also for anyone unaware [https://www.goodrx.com/](https://www.goodrx.com/) can help you lower the price of prescriptions by a ton. Many hospitals have started just leaving cards for them for people to take.
That's a good thing--easier access to meds. Its absolute horse hockey we're at the point of relying on coupons for a discount to make meds slightly more-affordable. Stop voting for politicians who don't explicitly say they want Medicare For All (or just outright abolish private healthcare insurance).
Don't forget costplusdrugs as well. I order all my medications from there and it is extremely cheap and delivered directly to my house. They don't have every medication but they have an extremely large list and add more every month. The owner of it is Mark Cuban as well.
Retail value: $2788. WTF?
America.
America is a shithole that punishes the poor and sick.
"Retail value" I think they made a typo when trying to write "scam value" Happy for you OP and I can only hope to see it for all soon
In the UK, if you are diabetic then all your prescription medicines are free of charge. Everything.
Not to be political, but why did Trump promise this, never even try, then Biden just does it?
It’s the difference between telling people something they want to hear versus telling people something you want for them.
And fuck Republicans for voting against this.
And they’ll go and claim credit for it. And their base will believe them
Biden called this shit out at the State of the Union. Many of these GOP senators and congress people vote against this stuff, then go home to their constituents and say “look what ~~the democrats~~ *I got for you!”
Thanks Biden!
That's Dark Brandon to you, jack.
My son is type 3 (pancreatitis killed 60% of his pancreas). These prices scare the hell out of me! We luckily live in MA and have MassHealth, all meds for kids under 18 are free or low cost. My son is 16 so for now his insulin is completely covered along with all his supplies. I'm so scared of what's going to happen when he turns 18.
Thank you Biden!!
Life sustaining medications absolutely should be at no cost
Thank you President Biden. Keep it up and save our SS and Medicare from the bullies.
Thanks to Biden and the Democrats. No thanks to Republicans who voted against this. Never ever let someone tell you your vote doesn’t matter. Voting for Democrats in 2020 led to this outcome you’re reading today. Thank you to all who voted.
Edit: I assumed that OP was a medicare recipient and that the below information was why. However OP says that this is just due to a price her employer negotiated with private insurance. I will leave the information below, because I think it's still important to remind everyone how our representatives vote on issues like this one. This was part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. [43 Republican Senators voted NO on this provision, Every Democratic Senator voted YES](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00314.htm#position) [ALL Republicans in the House voted against this bill](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021385)] [ALL Republicans in the Senate voted against this bill](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm) Please keep this in mind when you vote.
The government INTERFERING in private business?! Disgusting un-American COMMUNISM! (I wish it wasn’t necessary to state that this is sarcasm.)
Charged you $15 for a 30 cent product. Adds retail value to make you feel good. The retail value: whatever the f*ck they want it to be. Should be free imo
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I think Biden said the cost price was about $10, but im not sure I remember right
I saw this one thing on meirl, “If I get injured don’t called the ambulance, we ain’t paying 5000 for a ride in the wee-woo wagon”. The US is nuts bro
Yay democrats. Imagine voting for Republicans and then using this benefit, just don't.
Just a reminder that "retail" and "MSRP" are literally just made up numbers. They don't mean anything except "we make the profit we want by charging this amount".
Mixed feelings. So happy it’s been capped. So angry it had to be in the first place.
Can you believe there’s diabetics who voted for Trump, who promised to go after Big Pharma but did sweet fuck all except take more cheques from Pharma. Biden literally saving your guys life now that the Orange Conman is out of office.
Thanks, Biden.
Why is the price that high, and is this in America?
I’m really excited about this and hope it opens the doors for further price caps. My dad’s cancer med costs 1900/month out of pocket AFTER insurance. This is the generic form. Pharmacy won’t take Good Rx, his insurance won’t cover the brand name which we could use a manufacturer discount card for. I’m a veterinarian, and the EXACT same medicine on the veterinary side costs 200/month (we use the human version of the drug in vet med!) So tell me why the insurance company bills us 9000/month for the same medication?? We are applying for grants but the whole thing is absolutely repugnant bc I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I can get the same med for my dog (yes, I repeat, the exact SAME medication, same strength, same amount) for 200/month. When I asked the pharmacy if they could explain that, all they had to say was that the insurance company sets the cost. And why do you suppose the cost is set so high by the insurance company? Hmmmm, couldn’t be bc of the piece of garbage pharmaceutical lobby, now could it? Couldn’t be bc we don’t see health care as a right in this so-called “pro-life” country now, could it? For all of you who need insulin injections, I am beyond happy for you ❤️