How Much Do You Spend on Your T1D?

Type 1 and LADA
41

I was dx’d 6/6/2011 w/T1 and so far, I’ve spent about $150. This does not include co-pays (because at the time I was covered by two insurance policies; that changed 7/1/11 and I’m on my own Blue Cross policy).

Meds copay is $40 per refill of Novolog; I get 10 pens per fill. IF I refill my needles at the same time as Novolog (or Levemir) there is no copay on needles.–4 to 5 times per day; I expect to have to fill this at least every six weeks.

Levemir is $40 per refill; 10 pens per fill–once per day so this lasts me quite a long time.

Lancets are $20 unless filled at the same time as Novolog and Levemir (strange?!) and then they are ‘free.’

Test strips would be $45 per refill (200 per refill) about a months’ worth, but I participate in the FreeStyle Promise Program and only have to pay $15 per refill.

As this rocks on I can give you a better “reality” of what I spend per month, but this is just for the last 5-6 weeks. And in those last few weeks, my employer has cut my hours to 32 per week; my husbands employer has terminated family coverage health insurance-so I’ve had to pick up the tab on that. I’d been paying $60 a month for single coverage and now I’m paying $200 per month for family coverage. I know that’s not a lot and I’m not complaining, just sayin’ what my circumstances are with my NEW diagnosis…

42

Seeing the sums mentioned on this thread makes me feel sick. (Oh wait, I’m diabetic. I’m already sick. But you know what I mean.)

I am very lucky I was dx in a national healthcare system where all basic diabetes kit is paid for. My only out of pocket expense is hypo treatments. The hospital did give me hypogel for free but it tastes disgusting so I prefer to take my chances with the ripe pickings from kiddy candy selections. Oh, and I should mention that pumps and CGMS are not included. So I’m doing poor man’s pump using my unlimited test strips. I don’t have to worry about lancets because those only need to be changed once a year right? (Most useful thing I learnt on diabetes forums!)

Sounds to me like there is a huge disparity in what you Americans pay. How come some people have such comprehensive coverage and others have to bear such a huge burden themselves? Sounds like a bit of a lottery - comes with the job, or covered under parents/spouse plan?

43

I’m not knocking my insurance coverage. I pay into it, I’ve seen the EOB’s where my treatment costs into the thousands of dollars, I’m happy to pay a portion of it for that to continue.

44

The reason coverages vary so much is that each employer is free to choose which company it will go with to provide health coverage (if at all). Then they negotiate premiums and coverages – a little more here, a little less there, but intended, in the end, to come in under the employer’s maximum budget for health care coverage. It’s the laissez-faire free market, pure and simple. And the employer is free to charge the employee whatever portion of the premium they choose. So some Americans have Cadillac health-insurance, and some of them have Yugo coverage, and some of them have Shank’s Mare coverage (meaning to go on foot for those who aren’t into archaic idioms! LOL!)

The biggest problem comes when you lose your job, and if you need continued insurance coverage, you can get it for 18 months IF you pay the whole premium yourself, which is usually $600 a month or more. And which is a lot of money when you’re unemployed! Then, when you DO find a new job, your employer may have a clause that says you must wait 6 months for coverage, and/or they will not cover pre-existing conditions. And if you have diabetes, they pretty much try to make everything a pre-existing condition, even if you develop it after you’re hired.

I don’t think anyone would deny that there are problems with National-Health-System countries, like the UK and Canada, but the affluent, and well-covered in our country stoutly deny that there are any problems here. They say we have the best health care in the world, and we DO, if you can afford it. On the other hand, if you’re on Medicaid, and were promised a liver transplant, well, the governor there withdrew the coverage, and at least two people have died, even though one of them already had a suitable liver lined up and ready to go.

The United States is turning into a 2-class society – the wealthy, on the one hand, and the poor, working poor, and middle class on the other. Although the middle class has been shown to be shrinking steadily and rapidly. And mostly downwardly mobile, not the other way around. Dickensian England, anyone?

45

The most expensive health care (by far), not so high quality.

2010:

Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/Mirror-Mirror-Update.aspx

Bigger comparison (2007), a very interesing study, highly recommended:

U.S. Health Care Spending: Comparison with Other OECD Countries

PDF file:
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34175_20070917.pdf

So you pay the most, get much less in return.

46

That’s why I said we have the best health care, FOR THE RICH. If you weed out your statistics to include only those making over say, $250,000 a year (where did I get that number from?), I betcha the US would show up MUCH better. Other countries have what amounts to a 1-tier health system. We have a 2-tier system, no, a 3-tier system. The rich, who get the finest, the average employer-insured, who get what their employer allows, and the working poor who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not covered by their employers, and thus get nothing, other than emergency care. Medicaid and Medicare folks fit in with the employer-insured, since they get what their “employer”, the govt. allows.

47

Oh Nice! I’ve never been to a Podiatrist. Hopefully your tootsies are doing Great. :slight_smile:



You’re surely Welcome. One by one makes the light at the end of the tunnel ever brighter.



Yes, it was at times. There was so much to do. He will never be back to 100% but like the Surgeon promised, he did bring him back to about 97% which we thank God and the Surgeons and the Nursing Team for. I also give credit to my Hubby for never giving up.

48

Rs.1800-2400 per month on Insulin pens, Rs.800 for 25 test strips per month. Since these things are very expensive and there is no concept of insurance for such expenses, I test much lesser than I should.

49

It doesn’t matter. This stuff has kept me alive for 30 years with T1D (now 70). How much is THAT worth???
Jeff

50

you may feel a little different when you find out insulin is cheaper to make now than thirty years ago, since it is synthetic it no longer needs new hormones to make a new batch. drug companies take a portion of the previous batch to make the next btach effecttively minimalizing costs to pennies…

considering from a report about lantus possibilty or other insulins ability to cause or grow cancerous cells.

it said insulin essentially works like yeast does with bread, they take the orginal insulin hormone plus what ever ingredients are used and in the process the reaction reacts like stated above producing humalog, or novolog, or lantus, or levemir…

considering in the 80’s insulin was around 30 bucks a vial. free market rules have not applied here because of the neccisity of the fact that we must take this or die— now i am unsure about yourself but me i dunno if i am to to happy about getting price gouged for insulin, maybe thats why people are robbing store clerks to just get enough to buy insulin…

51

Yes … but death is not the best way to go. Business is always like this and they own the congress. You should be used to this.

52

Yeah I went through about 5 years in college without insurance. It is costly and I have the credit card debt to show it!

53

Getting used to it leads to complacency and then we all just sit around and let it happen. Not that we can do much but if we do nothing it will continue unimpeded.

54

You know what I really think the US is funding pharmaceutical research for the entire world. The other thing is when you go to the hospital they do every scan available to them if you have the money or insurance to pay. If people keep paying they will keep charging. Not that us PWD have much of a choice.

55

??? i don’t understand what should i be used to???

and this is the reason why we should have a UHC to cover basic medicinal costs for its citizens.(government has an incentive to keep you alive to pay taxes; private insurance companies may not need to care soo much.)

also i’ll concede i haven’t bought any insulin long or short acting in quite sometime and i also don’t plan on paying for it anytime in the near future(knocks on wood, lol)…because just as these people overcharge for their products, sometimes if you shake the right hands when you take your hand back there is insulin there…

but just because i have a hook up doesnt mean i think people should be in the dark about what and how they are being charged for a simple and realitively cheap medicine to make, especially since this disease has become such a “fad” now…

56

Difficult question. It's much easier to say how much my health care costs. That's about $1000/month, including health insurance.

The amount I pay depends on how much Oregon taxes the insurance companies for people, including diabetics who they refuse to cover, and how much those same companies get in indirect kickbacks from the tax system. I pay Oregon taxes; some of those get kicked back to the insurance companies in the round about way these things happen.

Per month I pay $485 and the Oregon scheme currently covers all the diabetic supplies I use. The Oregon tax on insurance providers supplements this amount with another (about) $485/month and the Oregon scheme then provides me with both health coverage (for existing conditions; diabetes) and insurance. I pay income tax in addition but the effect is incalculable unless you are a better tax lawyer than those employed by US corporations (unlikely.) I pay a little extra in the myriad of extra payments the US health care system demands (co-pay, you-pay, he-pays, we-all-pay etc.)

My wife pays the same management company $200/month and she is basically healthy and about the same age as me. So I guess I'm paying at least $300/month and probably more like $400/month for the diabetic care.

This is probably a little more than I would pay if I got the same supplies from an online non-US pharmacy, but then the expense wouldn't be tax deductible so I'd be out-of-pocket about the same. (The US pharmacy prices are a little more than the Canada ones, about the amount of the tax deduction; no surprise there!)

57

I spend close to Rs.2000 (approx $40-$50) for insulin. Test strips are very expensive and 1 box of 25 strips cost Rs.900 (about $20) so I buy one every 2 months or so. But I seriously want to test more often.

58

I found, before my health coverage decided to cover 100% of the cost, that I could shop for test strips by being very relaxed about getting new, different, blood glucose meters. Indeed, I have a drawer full of the things; six separate meters and I've thrown the old ones away.

Typical prices, without overseas shipping, seem to be about $30/100. That's still very expensive of course; I test on average 7 times per day, so that's at least $2/day, and the choice depends on not paying for the meter. In the US that's easy because the manufacturers give them away, but that's probably not true outside North America and Europe.

59

look for the off brand test strips usually you are paying for the advertising in the states at least all meters and strips are required to be within 20 percent per FDA… i usually pay 40 for 100 strips for relion brand which is still apart of abbott who make freestyle strips…

60

How hard is it to get citizenship in Finland? I can’t take it anymore! My retirement savings is almost gone paying to keep insurance that has ultra high co pays, I’m about ready to just go curl up somewhere and go into DKA. People that have drug addictions get more help than people who have worked their entire lives and can die for want of medicine. It makes me so ill. . .