This sort of catch-22 bullshit combined with the ridiculous price-gouging of life-saving medicine that is allowed to take place in the US makes me genuinely angry and incredibly sad. At the very...
Alec’s pharmacist told him his diabetes supplies would cost $1,300 a month without insurance — most of that for insulin. His options with insurance weren’t much better.
Alec’s yearly salary as a restaurant manager was about $35,000. Too high to qualify for Medicaid, and, Smith-Holt said, too high to qualify for significant subsidies in Minnesota’s Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace. The plan they found had a $450 premium each month and an annual deductible of $7,600.
This sort of catch-22 bullshit combined with the ridiculous price-gouging of life-saving medicine that is allowed to take place in the US makes me genuinely angry and incredibly sad. At the very least, why the hell isn't the cost of medicine that patients literally cannot live without factored in to the subsidy qualifications!?
I haven't been on insulin for quite some time and even during the short period (approx. 15 months or so) that I was, I either had insurance or was covered by Medicaid. I don't remember what my...
I haven't been on insulin for quite some time and even during the short period (approx. 15 months or so) that I was, I either had insurance or was covered by Medicaid. I don't remember what my insulin cost was at that time (this was back in 2005-2006) but just doing some quick Google-fu, I found prices ranging from $295.00-421.00 per 100 units. If I was uninsured now, I wouldn't be able to handle what it currently costs due to being on a fixed income. So it wouldn't even be that I'd ration it, I'd probably just stop using it altogether.
Even if you were insured now the price can be high. Part of the problem is that the pharmaceutical companies will reformulate their insulin pens and then charge extra for them. Doctors like...
Even if you were insured now the price can be high. Part of the problem is that the pharmaceutical companies will reformulate their insulin pens and then charge extra for them. Doctors like prescribing pens because they're easier to adjust, increase patient compliance and patients like them because they're easier to use and maintain (they also don't need to be refrigerated for 30 days). But a 3 month's supply of insulin using a combination of pens can easily run over $100 even with insurance while using NPH or regular insulin vials can be markedly cheaper (on some cases ~$25).
This sort of catch-22 bullshit combined with the ridiculous price-gouging of life-saving medicine that is allowed to take place in the US makes me genuinely angry and incredibly sad. At the very least, why the hell isn't the cost of medicine that patients literally cannot live without factored in to the subsidy qualifications!?
I haven't been on insulin for quite some time and even during the short period (approx. 15 months or so) that I was, I either had insurance or was covered by Medicaid. I don't remember what my insulin cost was at that time (this was back in 2005-2006) but just doing some quick Google-fu, I found prices ranging from $295.00-421.00 per 100 units. If I was uninsured now, I wouldn't be able to handle what it currently costs due to being on a fixed income. So it wouldn't even be that I'd ration it, I'd probably just stop using it altogether.
Even if you were insured now the price can be high. Part of the problem is that the pharmaceutical companies will reformulate their insulin pens and then charge extra for them. Doctors like prescribing pens because they're easier to adjust, increase patient compliance and patients like them because they're easier to use and maintain (they also don't need to be refrigerated for 30 days). But a 3 month's supply of insulin using a combination of pens can easily run over $100 even with insurance while using NPH or regular insulin vials can be markedly cheaper (on some cases ~$25).