Americans Are Getting Tired Of The Inhumane Cost Of Insulin
Interview
Every diabetic should have easy and affordable access to life-saving insulin. There shouldn’t even be a debate about it. However, many diabetics living in the United States find themselves paying an arm and a leg each month just to buy life-saving insulin. Prices in the US are sky-high compared to the rest of the developed world and Americans are fed up with what amounts to pretty much financial extortion, led by pharmaceutical, and insurance companies.
Even before you look at the immense human suffering high insulin prices cause—for instance, with people choosing to endanger their health by rationing what little insulin they have or even going without any—all it takes a casual glance at the stats to see that there’s something fishy going on. Forbes explains that while the US represents only 15 percent of the global insulin market, it actually generates a whopping 50 percent of the industry’s insulin revenue.
Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Andrew Carroll from Arizona to better understand the high insulin costs in the US and what Americans who can barely afford it can do. There are cheaper alternatives and they’re better than rationing your insulin which could lead to very serious health problems. “All medications in the US are more expensive than in the rest of the world. Part of the reason is that many drugs are developed in the US and pharmaceutical companies claim that they need to recover the costs of their research and development,” Dr. Carroll said.
“Because pricing tends to be controlled in other countries, the only way they can make a large profit is to increase the pricing in the US, where the only pricing control tends to come from competitive pricing between PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefit Managers), such as OptumRx, Express Scripts, etc.”
The price of insulin in the US is sky-high and is wrecking countless lives as a result
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According to Dr. Carroll, the US government has been asked to intervene to get all pharmaceutical pricing in the country under control. “I have a brother who is a pharmaceutical researcher. I know the development of medications takes a lot of work and money. So there is some need to recover those costs. But the pricing of drugs, over time, tends to go up, not down. If that was the excuse, then the pricing of a drug should go down over time, not up, since ideally, they will have recovered their R&D costs and initial production costs at the beginning,” he explained to Bored Panda.
Bored Panda wanted to know what diabetics who find themselves stuck financially can do. Dr. Carroll warned that rationing insulin is not a viable strategy.
“People who depend on insulin as the only means of diabetes control (Type I Diabetes) run a huge short and long term risk if they ration their medication. The costs, including Emergency Room visits as well as health effects, such as renal failure, blindness, heart attacks, and strokes, could cause long-term disability,” he said. However, there are ways around this, financially. At least in part.
“There are some insulins which are much cheaper, and a diabetic’s physician can help guide them to find a solution which works and doesn’t force poverty. This could include Humulin-N, Humulin-R, and Humulin 70/30. But as you can see, even these are fairly expensive, despite having been generic for a long time.”
Dr. Carroll also pointed out that there is another way: “There are other programs such as the Medicine Assistance Tool, that if you qualify due to low income, may help you obtain medications for free through pharmaceutical manufacturer programs.”
Some stories are very tragic. People are bursting into tears listening to how some parents have to struggle to provide insulin for their kids
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@slimkwow##type1diabetes ##kids ##struggle ##ontheedge ##imdone♬ original sound – Katie Schieffer
“Newer versions of insulin retail for between $175 and $300 a vial. Most patients with diabetes need two to three vials per month, and some can require more,” writes Joshua Cohen for Forbes.
These are mind-boggling prices to pay for a vital product. Insulin therapy has been around since 1922 and developed over the years in a showcase of scientific strength. However, the financial side of things isn’t something to marvel over.
While the rest of the world has embraced the necessity to give diabetics free or at least cheap access to what they need, around a third of the 35 million Americans who have diabetes and require insulin to manage the disease find themselves facing very real, very practical financial dilemmas each month.
The price of insulin in the US is incredibly high. Far, far higher than in nations all over the world
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Whether they’re insured, underinsured, or uninsured, Americans still pay a hefty price for something so basic that some other nations are giving away free of charge.
As to why the prices are so high, the short answer is that market isn’t as regulated as tightly as it could be and so drugmakers can pretty much do what they want. To put it bluntly, they keep the prices high because they can.
Meanwhile, the excuse that pharmaceutical companies tend to give is that they constantly innovate, creating more effective products.
Here’s how some more social media users have been reacting to the ridiculous fact that insulin still costs an arm and a leg in the US
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Almost everyone in the US is complaining about the complete lack of an affordable and accessible health care system. But when there are efforts made to resolve the situation, 55% of the Americans have objections because "I ain't paying none of my goddamn money for some transvestite to have a sex change operation or some kid to have an abortion." It's also quite striking that the Republicans still are claiming that the Affordable Care Act is a failure and that's why they are working to have it destroyed. Despite the fact that Obamacare has put a lot of families in a much more stable financial position and hat it has provided coverage for millions of previously uninsured Americans. But somehow that's a bad thing according to the Republicans.
Works great when you don't have a job in my state, though. When you work, it's less affordable with copays. When I had a diabetic dog in the 90's it was so cheap to buy. Dems are in bed with pharma as much as republicans and that's why no one does actually anything.
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Free market doesn't work in healthcare. It makes it very ineffective and over-priced. It was proven to be the worst possible healthcare system. They literally teach this in a pharmacy school (here in Europe, at least).
The U.S and its contradictions... Throwing money in the trash to finance the military, while screwing over their citizens. Even in the Southamerican shïthole I currently live insulin and all diabetes-related treatment is FREE. Go figure!
The U.S. has the largest military in the world and 90% of the world's nuclear weapons are held by Russia and the U.S. The U.S. has requested $752.9 billion for the 2022 defence budget. They are not under threat of invasion and the only wars they are involved in are ones that they started. Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of all this warmongering and misguidedly refer to it as 'patriotism'. The guns are to protect Americans. To save lives. But very few 'patriots' are asking why their fellow Americans are dying because they can't afford the medicine which will keep them alive. 'Free healthcare?' they ask incredulously, 'that's Communism!', they rage. They just can't see it. Until it's them that needs the insulin, that is. The American Dream is a stagnant, blindly patriotic nightmare which very few seem to want to wake up from. America, it is time that the alarm went off. Smell the coffee. This injustice must come to an end.
Insulin is a public domain medicine, so why there isn't an alternative company selling it at cost price? One would think that people with diabetic children would have crowd funded a company by now.
Why would you sell a medicine for $50 when people need it to survive and none of your competitors sell it for anything less than $300?
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Insulin was invented almost 100 years ago by someone who believed it belonged to everyone because it would save lives. This profiteering and greed on the back of his work is truly disgusting.
Should do a reboot of Breaking Bad. Mother whose son has diabetes, now can't afford to pay for his insulin. So she says, " F**k this s**t! I'm making meth!"
I got into an argument with an American on a forum some years back. He kept insisting that people in Canada were dying in droves because they couldn't see a doctor or get healthcare. I'm Canadian and kept saying "Uh, no... that isn't happening. Where are you even getting that from?"
This is beyond sad. I live in South Africa, yes the US calls us a s**t hole country. I go to my day clinic as I do not have private health insurance. I do not pay for insulin or any of the medications that give me quality of life. And since the pandemic we have had lovely ladies walking through the neighbourhood and they come and drop my chronic meds off at my gate every month with a smile. The US has truly gone insane, this is horrible and my heart goes out to people who cannot afford life sustaining medicine there.
What can I tell you that you dont know already? In Italy, not only insulin is 100% free of charge for a diabetic patient, but also people with diabetes (or any other chronic disease) do not pay for exams or check ups or blood tests etc, if related to their condition. It's not socialism. It's welfare state.
For IDDs in the UK everything related to diabetes is free - that includes insulin, pens, needles, testing kits and where the condition is not controlled it also includes the new sensors that you wear on your arm.
This also applies to Type-2 Diabetics whom rely on a constant an never ending supply of tablets such as Metformin and Januvia. I take four metformin per day and one Januvia.
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And here I was today complaining about needing to pay $300 for a brain scan (mri). It's so easy to forget how good Australia has it compared to the US. This post is a reminder on how privileged I am in that regard.
Bro I live in the us and hearing this is the saddest thing ever bc we can't change it even if our government says we can like the whole reason for the US was everyone to be free and have a voice but now it's just rich white male senators
You can leave race and sex out of it. Rich, corrupt senators come in all races & sexes.
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I was on Medicare and some of my medications were rejected. They had limited amounts I could take, even though my doctor had prescribed a higher dose. Some medications weren't generic in the USA, but generic everywhere else. The brand name prices were outrages! How does someone who lives on an income of about $1,000 a month afford two medications that cost $900 and $1200 a month (along with other meds), not to mention the dose isn't enough. The Medicare D plans are ridiculous. I got married and my husband's insurance covers me meds, but they are still expensive. We have to budget them. I've had surgeries that were over $200,000 just to implant a device and the surgery was a same day in and out with minimal pain meds. I've met people who couldn't afford this and are left to fend for themselves while continuing to be fired from jobs because they have seizures- making them call in or "not preform properly at their job. So sad.
I knew a woman who worked for the city of Huron, SD for almost 20 years until she was fired for failing a drug test for marijuana. She lost her heath insurance, couldn’t afford her insulin & died as a result. Still pisses me off to think about it.
That's heartbreaking and outrageous! In Costa Rica, a poor country of Central America, there is a universal and solidary social security system and healthcare for all the population, since 1940. If you need insuline, chemotherapy, a heart surgery, you just need to go to a public hospital, show your ID, and you'll recieve the treatment for you or your children. That's not communism, that's humanism and solidarity.
Won't ever happen to our politicians as they have waaaayy better healthcare than you will ever get. Oh, and YOU pay for it, not them. It's a great racket if you can get in to it!
I'm so sorry to hear this. Even in my third world developing country, insulin is much cheaper AND covered by the national healthcare insurance. Can't believe that people are this evil.
It isn't just on insulin that the prices are out of control. Other medications that are "needed to live", such as the EpiPen and anti-rejection drugs for organ transplant patients, are out of control as well.
I haven't been to a doctor (other than the eye doctor) for over 20 years. I'm almost 50. I don't have insurance.
Thats awful. Serioysly go emergency abd then fight tgw xists if yoy have to. The lustvof folj who dobt or canr pay must be astronomucal. I cant believe there is no means for a class action against providers for the gouging that is obviously going on,
Load More Replies... In Australia the 2021 PBS Safety Net threshold is: $316.80 for concession card holders. $1,497.20 for general patients. Once your prescription costs reach that amount they're free for the rest of the year. 29th May hubby reached that amount [complex health issues] so from now on every script until 31st Dec 2021 will cost us absolutely NOTHING. Gotta love Australia where health care wont kill you.
Yup. My retired parents both frail have reached their combined threshold. Mum became insulin dependent in August last year whilst in hospital for a broken hip. Upon arrival home a nurse was assigned for a month each day to teach us how to manage her sugar levels and administer dosage. They also supplied nearly 6 months of insulin just to get us started before we needed to get a script refilled. A script lasts her 3 months and is 6.50 $ each time. What is happening in the U.S.A is absolutely diabolical and downright criminal. It makes me sick inside. BTW my father receives a level 4 aged care package on top of everything. This entitles him to a personal carer for showering and grooming, changing his bed sheets and cleaning the bathroom each time as required, 2 hours cleaning assistance, weekly physiotherapy. Carer relief for me and mum if we need to go out and leave him o his own upon request, plus 80 days respite in aged care annually if needed, plus much more.
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In England, prescriptions are free if you suffer from a particular disease/illness. Being unable to have life saving medicine because it's too expensive, is probably the most disgustingly obscene thing I've ever heard.
I remember watching a documentary thing about four diabetics who travel across the border to Tijuana, Mexico and buy about a years worth of insulin bc it was literally 5 pesos for each unit. Better yet, they held up the U.S. package they paid several hundred dollars for, and compared it with the Mexican bought one. IT WAS THE EXACT SAME F*****G BOX FROM THE EXACT SAME COMPANY and the pharmacist just looked confused as f**k-utterly baffled-once they told her how much it costs in the U.S. I remember her saying "I thought America is supposed to be the greatest country on earth, yet they charge you money in order to live." I'll never forget the accuracy of that statement.
If they're really getting tired of the free market, they should vote accordingly.
After reading this I have to wonder why anyone would want to live in the US? Maybe the walls they want to build are to keep people in rather than out?
Offf. In poland insulin cost between 10$ - 30$ and we are poor. And if u are 75+ it's for free. Land of freedom 😜
Nothing is free. Americans don't want to pay for a universal healthcare. So be it. Call it karma for your annual wars.
30 years ago the average price of insulin in the U.S. was $36.00. I know because I worked in a pharmacy.
As a student of psychology and human nature, it is both fascinating as well as immensely sad being an impartial observer to the USA of late. The catalyst was likely the "orange toddler" (as one of our regular Pandas hilariously calls him). Note, I'm not saying he is the cause, more that he reflected some unhealthy symptoms. From learning that it's considered normal to pay a grown adult (usually with a family to support) $2.30 ph while leaving the majority of their earnings to the whims of entitled, unappreciative customers; to neo-nazis, Proud Boys and good old-fashioned bigots who no longer feel the need to hide in the shadows. Most Americans I have personally interacted with are fairly intelligent people, yet social media proves just how indoctrinated they have been, advocating for the capitalist lifestyle which benefits a mere 1% of their society by rejecting "communist" actions such as a living wage and universal healthcare. For many people across the globe, America used to be some
thing to aspire to; now for many it has become like the toxic ex we have had some distance from and now realise is just as (if not more) screwed up as we are lol
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In Honduras a vial of generic human insulin is about 5 dollars, with our very corrupt form of socialized medicine. If the patient cant pay for it then it is free. And I live in the most corrupt country in the Americas
There once was a man who lowered the cost of insulin drastically, but people objected to his skin color and his occasional mean tweet so he was sent away. On day 1 his opponent signed an EO reversing the policy, causing prices to immediately rise dramatically. Don’t take my word for it. Google it yourselves.
BuyCanadianInsulin.com currently helps Americans gain access to affordable insulin online and save up to 80% of US prices. humalog-bu...752a82.jpg 
I work in Germany and I have an american collegue who has kidney problems = Dialysis. He went to Germany because he was not able to afford it in the US, this was possible because he has also the german citizenship from his mother. Without that....
This is crazy,in the UK insulin is free and you pay per prescription item £9.35 for anything else. if you are low income or unemployed etc you get it free or at least subsidised. You can also buy a yearly prescription for a set price that covers everything. So sad, and people must be feeling so unwell.
Actually here in NZ, now, you pay $0 per prescription. Not $5 any longer. But remember most countries subsidise the medication you are getting. Lantus, costs more than $125 a vial but the govt pays it. Same in most countries, the US being the exception...but you guys voted for it.
In the UK if you have any type of diabetes you automatically qualify for a medical exemption card which allows you free insulin and everything that is associated with that such as Lancets, test trips, replacement blood sugar monitor, sharps bins and even other diabetic related medication such as metformin, Liraglutide or Bydureon . On top of that, with the medical exemption card, you can use it for every prescriptions for the length of time you have that medical exemption card - which if you have diabetes will be for life if you have Type 1. I
It’s not only insulin. Test strips too. Meter is dirt cheap but the strips are hellaciously expensive. Then there’s the $$$ for asthma meds. How many people have asthma and are having to pay ridiculous amounts of money for it? I hate this country’s healthcare system.
The test strips in Australia are $1.20 per pack of 200. They are tiny little bits of mostly plastic, like seriously America, gouging the suffering people is NOT COOL
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The vast majority of diabetes is Type 2. Not Type 1. And the vast majority of Type 2 is a result of lifestyle. A little less laziness and a little more self control would go a long way to reducing insulin dependence for a lot of Type 2s.
That doesn't make things better. I doubt the children mentioned in the post have type 2, caused by their bad lifestyle choices. Just because there are fewer, it doesn't mean they can just die. No lifestyle change will help them. Type 2 diabetes can also be genetic.
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Actually at which point is it ok to burn stuff down? Like a pharmacy company? Asking for a friend...
I live in India and buy insulin called lancet for my 71yrs father., type 2 diabetes. One box of 5 vials cost me INR3700/- including taxes thats approx to $51-55. This he uses for 3 months depending on units. Insurance doesn't cover daily medications in India.
Same thing in Oman, one box 5 vials cost be around $75 to 85. Still cheaper as compared to most first world countries esp AMERICA. Ohh insurance covers the bills in Oman, medication is free to senior citizens.
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People are gonna travel to buy it, particular in border areas, or they will buy it from the black market and it will be peddled by gangsters and gangs half the time. Regulation is not the answer, directors of these price schemes and investors are.
It is OUR tax dollars that are funding most research. Why are we paying again so much when we need medicine to live. Those developing drugs need to make a generic form for MUCH less after 2 years, pay back with interest the amount they received in grants. It's time the US takes on pharma companies to reduce pricing
Please fact check this. Trump SAID he would negotiate to lower the prices - but he hardly did any negotiating at all. He just endlessly repeated that. Meanwhile, big Pharma are jacking up the prices again, because any legislature to install laws to forbid them to do so would take a long time to install. Much of this valuable time was lost, when Trump did nothing, really, to implant such a law. Keeping in mind that the GOP has a vested interest in a capitalist approach to healthcare, it all makes sense. Please reconsider. The problem is older than trump or Biden and started with privatization and streamlining of medical hospitals. The lobbyists at work do not have their fellow Americans‘ interests at heart but to maximize profits for whomever has hired them. This isn’t news.
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How would borrowing work? Would the mother have to apply for a bank loan? I think she ended up crowd-funding. Looks like her kid is fine for now.
Load More Replies... Almost everyone in the US is complaining about the complete lack of an affordable and accessible health care system. But when there are efforts made to resolve the situation, 55% of the Americans have objections because "I ain't paying none of my goddamn money for some transvestite to have a sex change operation or some kid to have an abortion." It's also quite striking that the Republicans still are claiming that the Affordable Care Act is a failure and that's why they are working to have it destroyed. Despite the fact that Obamacare has put a lot of families in a much more stable financial position and hat it has provided coverage for millions of previously uninsured Americans. But somehow that's a bad thing according to the Republicans.
Works great when you don't have a job in my state, though. When you work, it's less affordable with copays. When I had a diabetic dog in the 90's it was so cheap to buy. Dems are in bed with pharma as much as republicans and that's why no one does actually anything.
Load More Replies... Free market doesn't work in healthcare. It makes it very ineffective and over-priced. It was proven to be the worst possible healthcare system. They literally teach this in a pharmacy school (here in Europe, at least).
The U.S and its contradictions... Throwing money in the trash to finance the military, while screwing over their citizens. Even in the Southamerican shïthole I currently live insulin and all diabetes-related treatment is FREE. Go figure!
The U.S. has the largest military in the world and 90% of the world's nuclear weapons are held by Russia and the U.S. The U.S. has requested $752.9 billion for the 2022 defence budget. They are not under threat of invasion and the only wars they are involved in are ones that they started. Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of all this warmongering and misguidedly refer to it as 'patriotism'. The guns are to protect Americans. To save lives. But very few 'patriots' are asking why their fellow Americans are dying because they can't afford the medicine which will keep them alive. 'Free healthcare?' they ask incredulously, 'that's Communism!', they rage. They just can't see it. Until it's them that needs the insulin, that is. The American Dream is a stagnant, blindly patriotic nightmare which very few seem to want to wake up from. America, it is time that the alarm went off. Smell the coffee. This injustice must come to an end.
Insulin is a public domain medicine, so why there isn't an alternative company selling it at cost price? One would think that people with diabetic children would have crowd funded a company by now.
Why would you sell a medicine for $50 when people need it to survive and none of your competitors sell it for anything less than $300?
Load More Replies... Insulin was invented almost 100 years ago by someone who believed it belonged to everyone because it would save lives. This profiteering and greed on the back of his work is truly disgusting.
Should do a reboot of Breaking Bad. Mother whose son has diabetes, now can't afford to pay for his insulin. So she says, " F**k this s**t! I'm making meth!"
I got into an argument with an American on a forum some years back. He kept insisting that people in Canada were dying in droves because they couldn't see a doctor or get healthcare. I'm Canadian and kept saying "Uh, no... that isn't happening. Where are you even getting that from?"
This is beyond sad. I live in South Africa, yes the US calls us a s**t hole country. I go to my day clinic as I do not have private health insurance. I do not pay for insulin or any of the medications that give me quality of life. And since the pandemic we have had lovely ladies walking through the neighbourhood and they come and drop my chronic meds off at my gate every month with a smile. The US has truly gone insane, this is horrible and my heart goes out to people who cannot afford life sustaining medicine there.
What can I tell you that you dont know already? In Italy, not only insulin is 100% free of charge for a diabetic patient, but also people with diabetes (or any other chronic disease) do not pay for exams or check ups or blood tests etc, if related to their condition. It's not socialism. It's welfare state.
For IDDs in the UK everything related to diabetes is free - that includes insulin, pens, needles, testing kits and where the condition is not controlled it also includes the new sensors that you wear on your arm.
This also applies to Type-2 Diabetics whom rely on a constant an never ending supply of tablets such as Metformin and Januvia. I take four metformin per day and one Januvia.
Load More Replies... And here I was today complaining about needing to pay $300 for a brain scan (mri). It's so easy to forget how good Australia has it compared to the US. This post is a reminder on how privileged I am in that regard.
Bro I live in the us and hearing this is the saddest thing ever bc we can't change it even if our government says we can like the whole reason for the US was everyone to be free and have a voice but now it's just rich white male senators
You can leave race and sex out of it. Rich, corrupt senators come in all races & sexes.
Load More Replies... I was on Medicare and some of my medications were rejected. They had limited amounts I could take, even though my doctor had prescribed a higher dose. Some medications weren't generic in the USA, but generic everywhere else. The brand name prices were outrages! How does someone who lives on an income of about $1,000 a month afford two medications that cost $900 and $1200 a month (along with other meds), not to mention the dose isn't enough. The Medicare D plans are ridiculous. I got married and my husband's insurance covers me meds, but they are still expensive. We have to budget them. I've had surgeries that were over $200,000 just to implant a device and the surgery was a same day in and out with minimal pain meds. I've met people who couldn't afford this and are left to fend for themselves while continuing to be fired from jobs because they have seizures- making them call in or "not preform properly at their job. So sad.
I knew a woman who worked for the city of Huron, SD for almost 20 years until she was fired for failing a drug test for marijuana. She lost her heath insurance, couldn’t afford her insulin & died as a result. Still pisses me off to think about it.
That's heartbreaking and outrageous! In Costa Rica, a poor country of Central America, there is a universal and solidary social security system and healthcare for all the population, since 1940. If you need insuline, chemotherapy, a heart surgery, you just need to go to a public hospital, show your ID, and you'll recieve the treatment for you or your children. That's not communism, that's humanism and solidarity.
Won't ever happen to our politicians as they have waaaayy better healthcare than you will ever get. Oh, and YOU pay for it, not them. It's a great racket if you can get in to it!
I'm so sorry to hear this. Even in my third world developing country, insulin is much cheaper AND covered by the national healthcare insurance. Can't believe that people are this evil.
It isn't just on insulin that the prices are out of control. Other medications that are "needed to live", such as the EpiPen and anti-rejection drugs for organ transplant patients, are out of control as well.
I haven't been to a doctor (other than the eye doctor) for over 20 years. I'm almost 50. I don't have insurance.
Thats awful. Serioysly go emergency abd then fight tgw xists if yoy have to. The lustvof folj who dobt or canr pay must be astronomucal. I cant believe there is no means for a class action against providers for the gouging that is obviously going on,
Load More Replies... In Australia the 2021 PBS Safety Net threshold is: $316.80 for concession card holders. $1,497.20 for general patients. Once your prescription costs reach that amount they're free for the rest of the year. 29th May hubby reached that amount [complex health issues] so from now on every script until 31st Dec 2021 will cost us absolutely NOTHING. Gotta love Australia where health care wont kill you.
Yup. My retired parents both frail have reached their combined threshold. Mum became insulin dependent in August last year whilst in hospital for a broken hip. Upon arrival home a nurse was assigned for a month each day to teach us how to manage her sugar levels and administer dosage. They also supplied nearly 6 months of insulin just to get us started before we needed to get a script refilled. A script lasts her 3 months and is 6.50 $ each time. What is happening in the U.S.A is absolutely diabolical and downright criminal. It makes me sick inside. BTW my father receives a level 4 aged care package on top of everything. This entitles him to a personal carer for showering and grooming, changing his bed sheets and cleaning the bathroom each time as required, 2 hours cleaning assistance, weekly physiotherapy. Carer relief for me and mum if we need to go out and leave him o his own upon request, plus 80 days respite in aged care annually if needed, plus much more.
Load More Replies... In England, prescriptions are free if you suffer from a particular disease/illness. Being unable to have life saving medicine because it's too expensive, is probably the most disgustingly obscene thing I've ever heard.
I remember watching a documentary thing about four diabetics who travel across the border to Tijuana, Mexico and buy about a years worth of insulin bc it was literally 5 pesos for each unit. Better yet, they held up the U.S. package they paid several hundred dollars for, and compared it with the Mexican bought one. IT WAS THE EXACT SAME F*****G BOX FROM THE EXACT SAME COMPANY and the pharmacist just looked confused as f**k-utterly baffled-once they told her how much it costs in the U.S. I remember her saying "I thought America is supposed to be the greatest country on earth, yet they charge you money in order to live." I'll never forget the accuracy of that statement.
If they're really getting tired of the free market, they should vote accordingly.
After reading this I have to wonder why anyone would want to live in the US? Maybe the walls they want to build are to keep people in rather than out?
Offf. In poland insulin cost between 10$ - 30$ and we are poor. And if u are 75+ it's for free. Land of freedom 😜
Nothing is free. Americans don't want to pay for a universal healthcare. So be it. Call it karma for your annual wars.
30 years ago the average price of insulin in the U.S. was $36.00. I know because I worked in a pharmacy.
As a student of psychology and human nature, it is both fascinating as well as immensely sad being an impartial observer to the USA of late. The catalyst was likely the "orange toddler" (as one of our regular Pandas hilariously calls him). Note, I'm not saying he is the cause, more that he reflected some unhealthy symptoms. From learning that it's considered normal to pay a grown adult (usually with a family to support) $2.30 ph while leaving the majority of their earnings to the whims of entitled, unappreciative customers; to neo-nazis, Proud Boys and good old-fashioned bigots who no longer feel the need to hide in the shadows. Most Americans I have personally interacted with are fairly intelligent people, yet social media proves just how indoctrinated they have been, advocating for the capitalist lifestyle which benefits a mere 1% of their society by rejecting "communist" actions such as a living wage and universal healthcare. For many people across the globe, America used to be some
thing to aspire to; now for many it has become like the toxic ex we have had some distance from and now realise is just as (if not more) screwed up as we are lol
Load More Replies... In Honduras a vial of generic human insulin is about 5 dollars, with our very corrupt form of socialized medicine. If the patient cant pay for it then it is free. And I live in the most corrupt country in the Americas
There once was a man who lowered the cost of insulin drastically, but people objected to his skin color and his occasional mean tweet so he was sent away. On day 1 his opponent signed an EO reversing the policy, causing prices to immediately rise dramatically. Don’t take my word for it. Google it yourselves.
BuyCanadianInsulin.com currently helps Americans gain access to affordable insulin online and save up to 80% of US prices. humalog-bu...752a82.jpg
I work in Germany and I have an american collegue who has kidney problems = Dialysis. He went to Germany because he was not able to afford it in the US, this was possible because he has also the german citizenship from his mother. Without that....
This is crazy,in the UK insulin is free and you pay per prescription item £9.35 for anything else. if you are low income or unemployed etc you get it free or at least subsidised. You can also buy a yearly prescription for a set price that covers everything. So sad, and people must be feeling so unwell.
Actually here in NZ, now, you pay $0 per prescription. Not $5 any longer. But remember most countries subsidise the medication you are getting. Lantus, costs more than $125 a vial but the govt pays it. Same in most countries, the US being the exception...but you guys voted for it.
In the UK if you have any type of diabetes you automatically qualify for a medical exemption card which allows you free insulin and everything that is associated with that such as Lancets, test trips, replacement blood sugar monitor, sharps bins and even other diabetic related medication such as metformin, Liraglutide or Bydureon . On top of that, with the medical exemption card, you can use it for every prescriptions for the length of time you have that medical exemption card - which if you have diabetes will be for life if you have Type 1. I
It’s not only insulin. Test strips too. Meter is dirt cheap but the strips are hellaciously expensive. Then there’s the $$$ for asthma meds. How many people have asthma and are having to pay ridiculous amounts of money for it? I hate this country’s healthcare system.
The test strips in Australia are $1.20 per pack of 200. They are tiny little bits of mostly plastic, like seriously America, gouging the suffering people is NOT COOL
Load More Replies... The vast majority of diabetes is Type 2. Not Type 1. And the vast majority of Type 2 is a result of lifestyle. A little less laziness and a little more self control would go a long way to reducing insulin dependence for a lot of Type 2s.
That doesn't make things better. I doubt the children mentioned in the post have type 2, caused by their bad lifestyle choices. Just because there are fewer, it doesn't mean they can just die. No lifestyle change will help them. Type 2 diabetes can also be genetic.
Load More Replies... Actually at which point is it ok to burn stuff down? Like a pharmacy company? Asking for a friend...
I live in India and buy insulin called lancet for my 71yrs father., type 2 diabetes. One box of 5 vials cost me INR3700/- including taxes thats approx to $51-55. This he uses for 3 months depending on units. Insurance doesn't cover daily medications in India.
Same thing in Oman, one box 5 vials cost be around $75 to 85. Still cheaper as compared to most first world countries esp AMERICA. Ohh insurance covers the bills in Oman, medication is free to senior citizens.
Load More Replies... People are gonna travel to buy it, particular in border areas, or they will buy it from the black market and it will be peddled by gangsters and gangs half the time. Regulation is not the answer, directors of these price schemes and investors are.
It is OUR tax dollars that are funding most research. Why are we paying again so much when we need medicine to live. Those developing drugs need to make a generic form for MUCH less after 2 years, pay back with interest the amount they received in grants. It's time the US takes on pharma companies to reduce pricing
Please fact check this. Trump SAID he would negotiate to lower the prices - but he hardly did any negotiating at all. He just endlessly repeated that. Meanwhile, big Pharma are jacking up the prices again, because any legislature to install laws to forbid them to do so would take a long time to install. Much of this valuable time was lost, when Trump did nothing, really, to implant such a law. Keeping in mind that the GOP has a vested interest in a capitalist approach to healthcare, it all makes sense. Please reconsider. The problem is older than trump or Biden and started with privatization and streamlining of medical hospitals. The lobbyists at work do not have their fellow Americans‘ interests at heart but to maximize profits for whomever has hired them. This isn’t news.
Load More Replies... How would borrowing work? Would the mother have to apply for a bank loan? I think she ended up crowd-funding. Looks like her kid is fine for now.
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