Recently as a college student with no job i have had problem buying my insulin. Im on a PPA assistance program through lilly but they havent sent in my medcine lately. im still waiting. so while i was waiting i had to go out and buy some insulin. it came to 108 dollars. that is nuts!!! why is insulin so expensive? i was wondering if anyone knows where u can get it cheaper …walmart is insane on prices.
The glucose meter test strips are ridiculous, too! My doc increased my testing to 8 times a day…they charge a copay for every 100 strips! That should be illegal! One script should be ONE COPAY!!!
Insulin is expensive because there are no generics. The pharmaceutical lobby is pushing the FDA to not allow generics of insulin, because its such a money maker. Its one of the only medications on the market today without a generic. Typically most formulary drugs, i.e. Lipitor, Zocor, etc., are on the market for a specific number of years before another company can make a generic of the drug to sell. There is currently legislation pending to allow insulin to go generic.
I wish I could direct you to someplace to get your insulin. Will your doc’s office get you some?
You can of course go to walmart and get Relion R and N insulins for $23 and change. These are rebranded versions of novolin.
Actually, there are different FDA regulations for patents on biological pharmaceuticals. The examples you sited are not biological drugs. I don’t know why they are different, because I don’t work in that industry, but insulins are classified with vaccines, and the FDA wants to more strictly monitor who produces them and sells them.
I don’t think I would trust generic insulin, anyway.
Yeah, the prices in US are rediculous. I’ve been buying my Humalog through canadian pharmacy for the last couple of years @ 1/3 the price. It’s shipped directly from Turkey where it’s manufactured for Lilly. If I couldn’t do this, I wouldn’t be able to afford to be a diabetic.
Has anyone else experienced a new price hike? My wife is T1 and WITH insurance the price just went from $75 to $180 (for her usual order). Should this sort of price gouging be legal? It reminds me of what people do during natural disasters; charging people $50 for a bottle of water or something.
Hi Cassy, can you go to your health center at your college and ask them for a vial or two to last you until you get your insulin from Lilly? Or your doc if you have one? They usually have samples and will give you a vial in a pinch. I've done it before when I had a problem with mail order delays.
Insulin is insanely expensive and it's just wrong. I don't care why it's so expensive...it's just wrong when people can't afford it and resort to rationing and doing without. What are people who cannot afford to buy insulin supposed to do...sit back and die?
India... A hotel froze all my insulin when I was there and I had to buy more. It put me back about $30 max.
But seriously, in these parts the pharma companies are out to get a buck, and this is the result... A freaking Insulinopoly. I think its sick that insulin is that much.
It's awfully sad that I can puchase Novolog for a lot cheaper per vial, without insurance, from an online source than what I pay, with insurance, in the US. With the economic uncertainty lately, I am always looking for alternate means to secure my meds. It makes me cringe that I might have to go back to Relion R and N, the way that I was forced to do when I had no insurance. I work in the healthcare industry, yet my employer is not required to carry insurance for his employees.
Yes, I just received a letter today stating that Humalog was no longer on the preferred list and that I would be charged a much higher copay unless I switch my sons insulin to Novolog. He is only 3 years old and I am concerned how he will react to the Novolog since the only insulin he has ever been on is Humalog. Hopefully, they are almost identical!
They are gouging us into early onset of complications. It's evil. I just paid $190 for a month's supply of insulin (on top of my $425/month premium), but the "full cost" according to my HMO was $475 for the insulin (I pay 40%.) I have no way of knowing what they get charged by the drug company, but nevertheless the whole "no generics" thing is insane.
Yes! Mine monthly insulin cost (with insurance) just went from $30 to $190. I'm still reeling.
I would be wary of Humalog manufactured in Turkey. It may be a counterfeit. It is not one of the manufacturing locations printed on their insert. The main ones are locations in France and USA.
You are probably right. According to Lilly, it has no manufacturing in Turkey.
I had heard, perhaps mistakenly, that Novolog was losing its patent this year. I was so hoping for a generic version!
I'm sorry for your predicament, Cassy. I don't find our health care system logical or efficient. A good case here for how single payer, national health insurance would remove stress and improve the quality of our lives. As it is now, being a college student or between jobs is a very precarious position to be in. And when employed, we must adjust to a different insurance plan every time we change jobs.
I WISH I could use another brand of insulin! To date, Humalog is the ONLY insulin I do not have an anaphylactic allergy to. My insurance keeps telling me that Humalog is not on their 'preferred drug list', but I can't take any other! My medicine copays are $450 a month, not including doctor visit copays.
If it's any reassurance, I have used both Novolog and Humalog and they work exactly the same for me. I didn't notice any appreciable difference.
I thought that the patent for Humalog expired this year. Doesn't this mean that we should be seeing a generic version soon?