I am walking away from computer again for a wile.
Looking for ideas, OK here is one. In 2018 Amazon acquired PillPack. PillPack business model is to make sure repeat customers get their medications on time at a reasonable rate. I don’t see any reason that Amazon could not make a direct deal with the major insulin manufacturers to purchase insulin directly from the manufacturer and bring it straight to the customer, eliminating the middlemen. The middlemen may have enough power to stop such an action or the insulin manufacturers may not want to jeopardize the current protection of the middlemen, but it is only a matter of time before this business model comes into play.
Amazon is licensed through PillPack in 49 states and they are doing this with some drugs already, just not insulin. This will come about. The question is there a way to make it come about faster? What is the current holdup for PillPack to buy insulin from the manufacturer and sell it directly to the patient? Does Amazon first need to buy out a distributor? There has got to be a heck of a lot of money in insulin sales and I can’t believe someone at Amazon is not currently, maybe not actively, working on and Insulin solution.
Just an idea as we are brainstorming.
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I’m sure there is but Amazon just like every other pharmacy must deal with the middle men, the pharmacy benefits managers, that every insurer uses to (Don’t Laugh) control cost.
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There are a lot of brands in many different industries that have traditionally sold only through middlemen that now sell both directly (1P) to as well as a third party (3P) through Amazon. Amazon has been a master in wading through muddy waters to make those types of relationships work and it has benefited the consumer by having a company consumers trust sell them all sorts of products at much lower prices.
I’m all for it, maybe we should all write to Amazon begging their help.
I don’t think writing to Amazon will help and I have too much on my plate to take on this project but if someone has the time, interest and willing to put in the effort they can pm me and I can put them in touch with people that can get to the Amazon staff that could, if possible, make this happen.
Here’s part of the problem. My interest in this is for my fellow diabetic, I have excellent insurance and my part of the cost is reasonable, I’m sure that many if not the majority of diabetics are in my position. This is one of the reason more is not done, not everyone feels the pinch, at least not directly.
While not everyone directly feels the pinch everyone does because the rules that cause high insulin prices is at play in all drug transactions. Everyone that takes a drug, everyone that deals with a pharmacy, everyone that pays an insurance premium and everyone that pays taxes that are earmarked for medicare are feeling the pinch.
The cost of drugs is incorporated into almost everything we buy in our society. The company I worked for and retired from pays the lions share of my insurance but do you think the shareholders of my company pays the cost, heck no, they pass those cost on to their customers. Again you are being pinched.
This is my brainstorm , find a way to tell the world that, Unless you are being kept by some totally benevolent being you are feeling the pinch.
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Already suggested the only solution that works. It garners no traction. Until that changes we’ll continue to be victims.
While we agree that it would work we have to also agree that it is as impractical as any other suggestion made so far.
Don’t agree that it’s impractical… I just don’t think that “we” (meaning the entirety of diabetics receiving insulin through the insurance market in the USA) have the understanding or the resolve to make it work.
It like I just said, how much skin you got in the game.
Revolutions start with single steps. You have the ear of several thousands of diabetics. So do I. It takes people of extraordinary leadership to take up a cause and drive it to effectiveness… unfortunately I don’t think either of us have that potential (neither does anyone else I know, so don’t feel bad… it’s not an insult it’s a reflection of reality).
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So maybe we don’t need diabetics receiving insulin through the insurance market. With a starting number of 7,500,000 and
“The price has risen so much in the last decade or so that one in four American diabetics are now rationing their insulin, according to a recent study by researchers at the Yale Diabetes Center.”
7.5 million divided by 4 and that is just the people rationing. People on insurance don’t ration.
How many police officers are there in the U.S. ? In 2018, there were 686665 full-time law enforcement officers employed in the United States . There were a total of 1.3 million active duty military and more than 800,000 reserve forces.
We still out number both the police and military.
I don’t understand where you are going with this.
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I just don’t think people get how much of a force we could be.
We have pretty much zero orginization, its all controlled opposition the so called diabetes advocacy organizations.
They want you to pick a side in politics or work within the system.
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We could be a great force but first you must learn how to herd cats.
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We’d be a substantial force if we could get organized… that won’t take the shape of posters or writing letters though it’ll have to take the shape of interfering with the cash flow racket. The opportunity is there… the resolve is not… for 2 reasons:
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the people with decent insurance don’t actually care to any extent beyond just griping about the list price (which they’re not paying)
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the people without insurance tend to be less capable of organizing and are already just buying $25 insulin outside the insurance market
Put in the effort to get insulin from Canada if not to save money but too mess up the cash flow.
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We just need the right cat food.
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