. . . and the nastiest “gotcha” of all is that some of us can’t use Humalog. A friend of mine has a violent reaction to it, and for me it does absolutely nothing—may as well be a placebo.
I’m one of them who can’t use Humalog. my bg was to high on it & i have a allergy to it.
I have spent 3 months at a time in Europe with a pump for the past 9 years and was using either Humalog, Novologo or Apridra. In Germany and in Austria a vial costs $ 35 and you are so right, Terry4 about the ridiculous situation we Americans find ourselves in, with the super high pricing of drugs, and insulin in particular. that is a cash price and in Europe and those on the national Health Plans there pay nothing!!! My travel insurance did pay me $75 back for the cost of 2 vials and tax. They carry all 3 kinds I mentioned, so now I do not stress out as much when getting ready for the long period away from home. On the other hand, it is totally necessary for us to somehow make it happen in the U.S. for drugs to be priced in an affordable range. It doesn’t matter if insurance or Medicare pay for the Rs’s, it still strains the system!!!
I would hate to have to pay cash for what I get from Medicare and United Health Care, but if anyone has any ideas of how to impress upon our lawmakers that negotiating for drugs is part of a free market system, not the controlled environment we now have.
Those who claim to want less government involvement in their lives are the ones who set up situations like this with the pharma companies telling the Gov’t what it can and can’t do!.
Let’s get together and do something!
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I was, too, after 3 years on Humalog, my BGs just wouldn’t come down, so I got on Apidra, then tried Novolog. The last two work and I am doing fine. Apidra has the disadantage of having to change sets every 48 hours, since it starts letting BGs go up if it is on your body/in your pump too long. It worked very well, just had to use more sets to keep going.
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busybee, it was pure ignorance. I normally bring extra supplies of whatever I expect would be hard to replace on vacation. Insulin is a pretty common drug and in an emergency should be easy to source. I guess it is my tendency to expect the decency in people. In Canada, insulin is always priced at a reasonable rate. I don’t think that Canadians know how to get so low as to purposely gouge those in need of lifesaving therapy. This seems to be exclusively an American trait.
Sorry you had to go through this mess.
I do understand completely having been T1 since 16 now 66.
One thing you and everyone must know, the pharmacist cannot tell you aboutvRelion at WalMart.
That would constitute him giving you medical advice. That will not happen, they will not take that responsibility and I don’t blame them at all. Too many sue happy people.
At Wally World you will have to ask for Relion by name.
They have it all and the mainstream brands are all priced through the roof.
Good grief I got pissed and had my Dr. change me to relion. Funny thing I ended up taking about half as much. Kind of makes you wonder if. the manufacturers are watering our life blood down, just saying.
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All these recommendations about what I “should have” done … they all would have required me to miss my reservation with my kids at Disney World. When it comes right down to it, I should have brought a spare pump.
The people who priced NPH in the US have little in the way of ethics or empathy. Brings to mind the story of the “Good Samaritan”. These people are the opposite.
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i’m on Novolog now & my bg is doing so much better with it.
I have a hoard of emergency supply relion— I buy a half dozen or so new vials each year but never toss the old out
Baloney! Take a look at this WebMD article: Pharmacists: They Do More Than Fill Prescriptions
The only question in my mind is if the pharmacist had enough knowledge to know that WalMart sells an NPH equivalent for a reasonable price. Maybe not, but it sounds like @Michael_Birch, was in a bit if distress and the pharmacist wasn’t offering much help beyond, “Take it or leave it!”
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I did not know Wally has a house brand insulin. Someday soon there will be less of a stranglehold on the pricing. Good to know.
I am so interested in your post! My husband and I plan to live in Italy for one year, in 2018, and I am always looking for information about how I will get my diabetes supplies. I use the Omnipod pump and novalog. If you have any websites or information you can send my way I would appreciate it!
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To top off the prices, I was also told months back that they do not replace defective insulin! I had a bottle of Humolog that just didn’t work. Everything was fine and back to normal when I opened up a new bottle. Called Lilly and was told that they could give me a one time voucher for a vial of Humolog, but that it was only a one time thing they would do and I really had to press to get that!
Well, let’s not get too optimistic. It’s not the standard NPH most people who use that horrible stuff are used to. And I don’t think there’s any kind of generic replacement on the horizon for the fast insulins we use in pumps.
Pam, how luck y you are!!! I would check with Omnipod to see if they have overseas offices for emergency supplies and for price lists , also to see if your overseas medical insurance covers your supplies so you don’t have to take as many as you 'd need for a year. It always takes up at least 1/4 of my packing volume for supplies. I would also look for Italian websites for medical rules for getting your insulin and what you need. Maybe the Italian Gov’t Health Department, but the actual name I do not know. As I wrote, all I needed was an empty bottle and a U.S,. prescription to get Humalog two years ago. I have a landlady in Vienna who assures me that Novolog and Apidra are available as well, for the same price of about $70 for 2 bottles. You pay ahead, even if you have health insurance and then submit for reimbursement. If you will have Italian -accepted health insurance, you might not pay anything if they accept your insurance. If you don’t have this insurance, you have a good long time to find a good coverage for the time you are there and the travel time to and from. You can probably even call Omnipod and get their help with the supply issues, but I would say, take as many as you can fit in and get legally with your present insurance. My doc actually over-prescribed for a year. (I used about 10 set per month, but was prescribed 15 per month, so I built up a surplus and was not short of sets.)
The plugs you need to re-charge anything are available on Amazon or at your local store for travel supplies. No converter needed, just the right shaped plug for all electronics.
What else do you want to know? I also take more than enough alcohol wipes, testing strips, insulin pens for emergencies in case the pump poops out- but that has not happened in 6 years.
My cooling system has evolved, so if you want to know about getting unopened insulin to your destination, let me know.
If you have a good system, let me know!
Suhen
Last time I checked cash price at various pharmacies it was around $100 per vial. HOWEVER, Walmart has great contract with them that lets me purchase Humulin over the counter for $24.88 per vial. Occasionally the low price is for Novolin instead, which IMO is a direct substitute.
What is also a RIP OFF is the insistence that your Humulin needs to be thrown out 30 days after opening. I use Regular at room temperature for 80 days with no noticeable degradation.
At the same time, check for SAVINGS CARD low price for Lantus and Toujeo ($25 & $15). I think Tresiba also has a low cost option. Of course these require a prescription.
I am curious about the price in Canada. As a non-Canadian, is that CDN$30 price tag something I would pay (if I had the appropriate prescription) or is that CDN$30 the price that a Canadian resident pays as a co-pay with the balance covered by their provincial health plan.
Does anyone else know the answer to @dale8’s question?
If I walked into a pharmacy with a valid rx slip, as an American citizen, what would I be paying for analog insulins? To expand on that-- can they accept an rx from an American doctor?
I know mail order northwest pharmacy is Canadian and offers very much lower cash prices for many drugs including insulin than is available here in the USA, and they say they’ll contact your doctor in the USA to request a prescription. Unfortunately they also caution that it can take 18 days for a package to clear US customs-- I spoke to their pharmacist about shipping insulin when it might be sitting around for 18 days— they assured me that they do it all the time and it’s fine, but that did not soothe my concerns…
My question was more hypothetical for the Michael as the poster of the original article than looking as a solution to myself. If Michael pays CAD$30, but that is just the copay after the provincial insurance covers the balance, that would put a very different spin on his original post.
My current insurance is only a $3 per month copay for insulin with pickup from my local pharmacy.
Where I live, I would not trust mail order for insulin unless it was shipped with special instructions for hand delivery to a person with signature required. If mailed, this time of year it could be sitting in a mail box for a full day in sub-zero (F) temperatures before I could claim it. During the summer, it could be sitting there for 2 or even 3 days if I am traveling in 80+ F temperatures before I could claim it. In either case the insulin would probably be spoiled.
That my be the only question in your mind but how many pharmacist do you know of that will completely change your persciption.
From one tupe of insulin to another? And how many will take responsibility for that if there is a problem, you end up in the hospital.
Better still how many of us want our medical care from a pharmacist? Sorry not me.