Am I allowed to post this?
And this?
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I’m as liberal and pro-universal healthcare as can be, but I find it hard to believe someone died in the United States because they couldn’t afford insulin. Plus universal healthcare doesn’t solve everything, we have it in Canada for doctors and hospital care but not for prescription drugs. The key is regulations that mandate fair pricing for pharmaceuticals which don’t exist south of the border.
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Here’s an interesting thread on insulin prices in Canada and how Americans can buy them.
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Check out these insulin pricing:
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Look into different insurances, especially in the US. Not sure about Canada, but here, all of my insulin and blood testing supplies are 100% covered, nothing out of pocket. I use Blue Cross, Blue Shield.
How about this?
Well I blame the medical establishment then for not informing people that they can buy R and NPH over the counter on the cheap. I’m not saying this is a good option or that this is right, but it would certainly prevent death. It would lead to better control than rationing Humalog. But you’re right, the point is that analogs are standard treatment and should not cost thousands of dollars a month, especially when they are available for around $30/vial everywhere else in the world.
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Yes, insulin costs too much! The free marketeers love to celebrate the wisdom of the market. But most of their notions do not fly in a market lacking competition and consumers who need insulin are faced with a simple choice, use insulin or die. This whole situation cries out for regulation. This is not a free market, it’s distorted and bent out of shape to suit big Pharma, fat-cat CEOs like Alex Azar, and the pharmacy benefit manager parasites who suck money out of an needlessly complex and hidden maze of transactions and kickbacks.
Of course Alec Smith could have used cheap old-formulation insulin but did he know about it? He probably thought that it was safer to stick with the insulin prescribed by his doctor. And then when you get sick, your mind just does not work as well. He likely rationed his insulin before and got away with it. If he had access to an affordable dependable supply of insulin, he probably would not have died. I am amazed that Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi can continue to bilk billions out of customers who have a gun to their heads. Disgusting.
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Is cost in going to emergency a factor as well? I mean, if someone is rationing insulin becasue they can’t afford it, is it possible they also don’t go to the hospital when they get sick because they’re afraid they won’t be able to afford it?
I really can’t imagine the stress people must feel around healthcare in the US. 
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This is a much bigger problem than many people think. It is a sad state, that people everyday have to decide whether they will get their medications or if they will get food for the family. I have talked with many seniors who end up in this situation because all the medications they need to take are just too much for their monthly budget. She they have to decide which medicine not to take this month. And these are medicines that are helping to keep them healthy and living well. These are not just vitamins, these are drugs they need to stay alive and well.
And many don’t know about options out there or feel ashamed to discuss with their doctors about their financial situation. And I must say until a few years ago, I didn’t realize they still made the older insulins.
I find it horrifying that we still can’t get health care to the people who need it. Everyone should not have to think each day, how much insulin do I really need today?
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Yet, in the US, we pay more per capita for healthcare than any other industrialized nation. A single-payer system that covers everyone would save us a ton of money. We can’t afford the status quo!
The emergency room is over the top expensive. An ambulance ride alone will likely cost more than $1,000 USD and it’s often several thousand dollars for other ER services. Our health care system is so broken.
Wow, that’s crazy. Ambulances in Canada aren’t free either, but they cost $50 to $300 or so (about $38 to $250 or so USD) depending on the province. The actual hospital treatment is covered for everyone. And there are many here who feel that paying even that is too much, especially if being transported by ambulance is medically necessary.
We really need an American version of Canada’s beloved Tommy Douglas to lead us out of the healthcare wilderness.
It’s insane how much Americans are overcharged for medical services and products.
I saw this a few weeks ago: https://twitter.com/mattb/status/1015270406754713600 - charged $10 at the hospital for a single Halls cough drop.
How is this justified? How do the people let them get away with this? Such a scam…
Yeah, but he didn’t have to deal with Fox News, Alex Jones, “death panels”, a political party that is certifiably insane, etc. It amazed me how hard Obama had to work his own party members to get the votes for the ACA, and that isn’t even close to what single-payer is.
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I thought this was a bit heartening:
“Though they had tried for years to advance a resolution calling on the organization [American Medical Association] to drop its decades-long opposition to single-payer health care, this was the first time it got a full hearing. The debate grew heated — older physicians warned their pay would decrease, calling younger advocates naïve to single-payer’s consequences. But this time, by the meeting’s end, the AMA’s older members had agreed to at least study the possibility of changing its stance.”
I’m not necessarily advocating for single payer. I think it’d be a dramatic change in the U.S… I do however think a universal healthcare system (not necessarily single payer) would motivate congress to address the costs of U.S. healthcare and, more than that, the health of U.S. citizens.
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Ummm… errrr… how can you have a universal health system that is not also single payer?
The article discusses this. The Wikipedia page for universal healthcare also does. The terms are not synonymous.
That might be true but I think some of this is people have a very hard time asking for help or admitting they can’t afford that prescription or that they can’t do food and insulin shopping in the same week. And if the patient doesn’t share these key daily life issues they are having, how does a medical professional know?
There’s also the consideration that some Dr.s don’t know what to do and don’t have any solutions for those who are struggling financially. But there are solutions and I think the diabetes community should broadcast them. From using Canadian pharmacies to charitable organization that are run by the insulin manufacturers.
What I would like is to see insulin cost go back down to a reasonable amount. 10 years ago insulin was still very affordable, in fact it was cheaper than insulin is now at Canadian pharmacies and there is no legitimate reason for it to be so expensive (besides greed). I have no savings because the disposable income that most people would be earning in their 20’s goes toward my diabetes costs and I don’t even have any other diseases.
The fact is that there are people dying or having terrible quality of life in the US because they can’t afford the super inflated prices we are experiencing here.
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